Untitled (Construction Scene, New York) c. 1940

Dong Kingman made this watercolour painting of a construction site in New York, we don't know exactly when. It's fascinating how he captures the city’s energy through these very fluid and playful brushstrokes. There's a wonderful sense of immediacy in the way he's laid down the paint, transparent washes that let the paper breathe, and then bolder, more opaque marks that define the shapes of the buildings and machinery. The colour palette is really restrained, mostly earth tones with touches of red and blue, which gives the whole scene a kind of nostalgic, almost dreamlike quality. Look at the way the artist renders the sky, a series of loose, overlapping strokes that create a sense of depth and atmosphere. It's as though Kingman is not just depicting a construction site, but also capturing the feeling of being in the city, the sense of constant change and possibility. Kingman reminds me of Lyonel Feininger with his interest in cityscapes and his ability to capture the essence of a place with so few brushstrokes. Like with so much great painting, the beauty lies in its ambiguity.