Evening Handkerchief 1935 - 1942

Mary Fitzgerald made this square handkerchief, of indeterminate date, by drawing with coloured pencils on paper. The texture is built up from tiny, repeated strokes, a labour-intensive process. It makes you wonder, what does it mean to draw something that already exists? There's a light green wash across the handkerchief’s surface, like looking through a veil or gauze, or maybe a foggy window pane. Fitzgerald then painstakingly overlaid this with darker green marks, creating a uniform field, with tiny dots like stars. Around the edge, a floral border gives the impression of looking through a hedge. The flowers and leaves are meticulously delineated with a range of green, cream, and pale pink hues, evoking an atmosphere of quiet, domestic intimacy. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin, or maybe Forrest Bess – artists who knew that through humble means and repetition, you can arrive at something monumental. With Evening Handkerchief, Fitzgerald suggests a way of seeing the world that is both intimate and expansive.