Shaker Cupboard c. 1938

John W. Kelleher made "Shaker Cupboard" using what looks like watercolour, and the rendering of the wood is what really grabs me. I mean, look at how he's captured the grain. Each stroke is so precise, like a cartographer mapping a landscape. It reminds me of Agnes Martin, actually, in the way she built her paintings from these tiny, repetitive marks. I wonder if Kelleher had something similar in mind here? The colors, too, are so muted and earthy. It's like he's trying to capture not just the look of the wood, but also its feeling, its history. The composition is strangely cropped, giving it a very modern feel, and the air vent at the bottom adds a funny, almost comic touch, a little touch of Dada perhaps! It's just a humble cupboard, but in Kelleher's hands, it becomes something really special.