Dress c. 1938

Francis Law Durand made this watercolour on paper, "Dress", sometime in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Can you imagine Durand, carefully building up the form of the dress with these delicate washes of blue and gray? I wonder if Durand was a bit of a fashionista, because there is a real feeling for the fall and drape of the fabric. The controlled strokes suggest a real connection with the materiality of fabric, like the artist is running their hands along the seams! It reminds me of Fairfield Porter’s portraits – a sense of quiet observation. The subtle variations in tone create a gentle rhythm across the surface, moving from the shadow along the hem to the lace collar. It's a simple composition but the result of so much looking. Durand is in conversation with a long history of painters who have tried to capture the world around them.