Vest 1935 - 1942

This is Isabelle De Strange’s ‘Vest’, a painting of a garment of clothing. I’m imagining Isabelle as a bit of a magpie; she is definitely interested in surfaces, patterns, and textures. Look at all those tiny spots, each a little universe of gold. I’m seeing an artist utterly absorbed in the act of looking, lost in the microcosm of that pattern, and I am imagining the intense concentration it would take to render something like that. There is a real sense of curiosity and appreciation of craft that reminds me of the work of other painters of domestic life. When an artist like Isabelle is focusing her attention so precisely, she helps *us* to see, really see, the beauty in the everyday. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, and each generation inspires the next, don’t you think?