Boy's Suit c. 1939

Henry De Wolfe made this boy's suit out of watercolor, paper, and graphite. Just imagine him working on the suit’s details; each tiny scallop of blue trim is carefully considered and painted with precision. What do you think he was thinking while he painted this? Was he imagining the boy who would wear it, or maybe remembering his own childhood? I think that maybe, De Wolfe was interested in the beauty of everyday objects. The suit becomes more than just clothing; it's a symbol of innocence and a record of a specific moment in time. Painting is like that, it can make something that seems so simple, so beautiful. It makes you wonder what kind of conversations are happening between artists across time, influencing each other’s creativity. Painting always embraces ambiguity, letting there be multiple ways of understanding the world.