Missal Stand c. 1940

This watercolor of a Missal Stand was made by William Kieckhofel, sometime between 1855 and 1995. I can imagine him carefully building up the layers of transparent color, maybe with a really soft brush. I think Kieckhofel probably spent a while working out how to represent the interplay of planes and curves of this object. I’m interested in how he gives equal weight to each element, neither privileging the frame nor the shelf. Every little detail is lovingly rendered. It reminds me a bit of some of the early modernist painters, like Juan Gris, who were also interested in depicting objects in space in a new way. Ultimately, painting and drawing are just ways of seeing and thinking about the world, and like conversations, artists are always responding to each other. Nothing is really ever done in isolation.