Cedar Chest c. 1936

This lovely small watercolor rendering of a cedar chest was made by Henry Meyer. It's almost like a technical drawing, but the chest has such a warm glow. I can imagine him carefully building up those transparent layers of ochre and brown to create a sense of depth and form. It looks like he was interested in the different aspects of the chest, kind of like a puzzle. It seems like he’s asking himself “How does the handle work? How does the hinge connect?” I bet he spent a lot of time looking, thinking, and puzzling out how the chest worked as a physical object. The whole thing makes me think about how artists are always in conversation with each other, borrowing and building on ideas across time and space. Meyer's painting embodies an openness to different ways of seeing and thinking, it’s as if there are multiple versions and possibilities within a single frame.