Dressing Mirror c. 1938

Samuel O. Klein made this watercolor, Dressing Mirror, and it's all about the details, right? The symmetry is almost comical, those dog-like forms holding the mirror like it's the most important thing in the world. You can almost feel the texture, even though it’s just watercolor on paper. The layering of the paint gives it this kind of depth, like you could reach out and touch the cool metal. The color, it's all muted gold, hinting at elegance but also something a little faded, a little worn. It's not trying to be flashy, you know? There is a sense of the artist really looking, like a prolonged stare, and then figuring out how to capture the essence of it with these simple materials. This piece reminds me a little of Charles Burchfield, who also had a knack for finding the extraordinary in the everyday. Maybe it’s that focus on the subtle beauty of ordinary things, or maybe it's just a reminder that art is always in conversation with itself, echoing and riffing on ideas across time.