Woman's Shoe c. 1940

Daniel Marshack’s ‘Woman’s Shoe’ is a watercolour on paper. There’s a real tenderness in the colour, that delicate faded blue-grey, like it’s recalling something from memory. I love how the process feels so open, you can trace his hand, see where the colour stops and starts. There is such quietness in the way he has created the form, with these very fine vertical lines, like he’s mapping the surface of the shoe. The eye jumps around this work, it feels like it’s made of a collection of marks, and each one seems very considered. Look at those little metal rings running up the side of the boot, they're perfectly placed. It has a real sense of care and intimacy. Thinking about other artists, I’m reminded of Giorgio Morandi and the way he painted his bottles, with a similar sense of patience and devotion. Each artist takes a humble object and raises it to this strange iconic status. What does it mean? Who knows! It's a beautiful painting, let’s leave it at that.