Chair 1935 - 1942

B. Holst-Grubbe made this drawing of a chair on paper, and it's the kind of unassuming image that stays with you. The color palette is so simple, like a quiet conversation between the brown wood of the frame and the pale woven seat. Looking closely, the marks that build up the image seem almost tentative, with layers of delicate washes building to form the structure, and I think this speaks to the process of observation and the time taken to really look at an object. The grain of the wood is evoked by the lightest of touches, a kind of shorthand for 'wood-ness'. I am drawn to the upright at the front, it almost seems to glow. It's like a memory of a chair, and it's interesting to consider it in the context of other artists who find inspiration in the everyday. Like Giorgio Morandi, Holst-Grubbe finds something special in the quiet arrangement of simple, familiar forms. There is something ambiguous, almost dreamlike, about this image. It invites you to bring your own associations to it.