Hasp from Door of "Kennedy Farm" 1935 - 1942

Albert Rudin made this watercolour of a hasp from the door of "Kennedy Farm". The off-white background feels like a page from a sketchbook, like Rudin's capturing a quiet moment of observation. The metal itself is rendered with such care, that you can almost feel the rust and the cool touch of the iron. Look at the way he captures the curling hinge, a little dance of dark browns and golds. It's amazing, how he makes something so ordinary, like a hasp and a couple of bent nails, so compelling. It reminds me of Charles Sheeler's precisionist drawings, but with a folksier, more personal touch. There's a stillness, but also a sense of time passing, of things worn down by use and weather. And isn't that what art is all about, finding the extraordinary in the everyday?