Settee 1941

Rolland Livingstone made this watercolour drawing of a settee. Livingstone, an artist born in the 19th Century who continued to make art until the mid 1990s, has captured the essence of this elegant piece of furniture, perhaps for a technical drawing. It's got these sturdy legs, each ending in a carved claw, and is upholstered in what appears to be soft brown leather. The artist is showing us something in the way he carefully renders the details. I can imagine Livingstone studying every curve and contour, trying to understand the form and function of the piece, and I wonder if he was thinking about the people who would sit on it. The colour palette here is muted, almost monochromatic. It reminds me of those architectural drawings where the artist painstakingly documents the structural elements, it's like a love letter to craftsmanship. He’s participating in this ongoing conversation that artists have across time, inspiring each other's creativity.