Lessing J. Rosenwald 1930

James McBey captured Lessing J. Rosenwald in watercolor sometime around December 1930 in Philadelphia. You can see how the pigment floats, blending into the paper. It’s a process that demands a certain amount of surrender from the artist. The texture here is all about the dance between the wetness of the paint and the absorbency of the paper. Look closely at the jacket – see how the brushstrokes define the form, but also bleed and blur? It gives the whole thing a sense of immediacy, like McBey was trying to capture Rosenwald's likeness in a fleeting moment. I love how the details of the face are rendered with such precision using simple hatching. The whole thing reminds me a bit of John Singer Sargent, who also knew how to make watercolor sing. Ultimately, this piece embraces the beauty of imperfection, celebrating the fluid and unpredictable nature of the medium.