Calash c. 1936

Roberta Spicer made this study of a calash with graphite and watercolour on paper. I like to think that the artist was working in a slightly dusty room with muted light. There is a sense of careful observation, of time taken to capture the folds and form of the bonnet, and the way the light falls on the silk ribbon. The palette is restrained, almost monastic, with the ochre and warm browns giving it an antique feeling. It reminds me of Agnes Martin, in the sense that it shares some of her interest in the grid and repetition. There is a delicacy and precision in the rendering of detail. I wonder whether Spicer considered the relationship between fashion, gender, and identity? I wonder what other works were being made at that time, in the mid-20th century, and how her work sits within that broader history of women artists, and of the spaces between the fine and applied arts.