Hat c. 1937

Ann Gene Buckley made this watercolor of a hat, but exactly when is a mystery. Imagine her, brush in hand, teasing out the textures of the ribbon, the delicate weave, and the plush fabric. I wonder if it was a hat she had or saw? I think of Morandi, painting the same bottles over and over... Perhaps she made it again and again, each one a little different. The blue has a certain… vibrancy. It's almost electric! There's a real sense of delight in the color itself, as if the hat is just an excuse to explore this particular shade of blue. It’s like she’s not just painting a hat, she’s painting a feeling, maybe the excitement of getting dressed up for a special occasion. It is as if the very act of painting is a way of understanding it, capturing something elusive and intangible. And in that sense, Buckley is in conversation with all painters, reaching across time through color and form.