Early Dayton Chair c. 1937

Therkel Anderson made this 'Early Dayton Chair' with watercolors. It’s like a love letter to the everyday, a meditation on form and function. Look closely, and you’ll notice the subtle washes, the way the brown deepens and lightens, giving shape to the humble chair. The texture isn't about thick impasto, but it’s about the gentle accumulation of thin layers, a quiet, observant process. It reminds me that art isn't always about grand gestures, but about the patience of seeing. That sketched chair hovering behind the chair is interesting. It makes me think about how sketches and studies were a part of the WPA Index of American Design project. It’s a reminder that art is always in conversation with what came before, and is also never finished. It always leaves space for the next mark, the next idea, the next way of seeing.