Money Vest 1935 - 1942

John Thorsen made this watercolor of a vest at an unknown date. The first thing that grabs me is the color – a really muted, almost ghostly palette that feels both familiar and slightly unsettling. It’s like looking at something that’s been sitting in an attic for decades, all the vibrancy faded away. The way he’s handled the paint is pretty straightforward, almost like a technical drawing, but there’s a softness to it that keeps it from feeling too rigid. You can see the circles and feel the padding. It’s not about hiding the process; it’s about showing how the object exists in space, like a flattened sculpture. Look at that strap on the left, how it curves and bends. It almost feels like a body, or a memory of one. I’m reminded of some of the deadpan object studies by Bernd and Hilla Becher, but with a handmade quality that’s all Thorsen. Art is just one big conversation, right? It’s never about having the last word, but about keeping the dialogue going.