Door Knocker c. 1936

William L. Antrim made this painting of a door knocker, and right away you can see it's about the business of observation. The color palette is muted, almost monochrome, and gives a sense of metal, of something heavy and real. Look at the surface. See how the light catches the eagle's feathers, and the way the paint seems to mimic the texture of aged bronze? It's not just about depicting a door knocker, but about the feeling of one – the coolness, the weight, the sense of history. And that drip of shadow to the right gives the whole thing a sense of depth, like it's popping right off the paper. It's like Antrim is saying, "Hey, I see this thing, and I want you to really *see* it too." This reminds me a bit of Charles Demuth, who could make industrial objects feel both solid and fragile. It's this ongoing conversation about how we look, and what we choose to notice that keeps me coming back. Art isn’t about answers, but about opening up new ways of seeing.