Side Chair 1936

Arthur Johnson created this watercolour of a side chair sometime between 1855 and 1995. Just imagine Johnson, with his brushes and paints, carefully rendering each detail! The way the red blooms across the seat and backrest, you sense him building up the layers, watching the patterns emerge with a quiet sense of discovery. There’s such a tenderness in the details, like the subtle variations in colour that suggest the fabric's weave. It reminds me of Agnes Martin’s delicate lines or Morandi’s quiet still lifes—how something so simple can hold so much depth. I can almost feel him tracing the curves of the chair, trying to capture its essence. There’s a certain kind of love in that act of looking and recreating. Artists are always riffing off each other across time. Johnson's chair becomes more than just an object; it's a starting point, a conversation, an invitation to see the world with new eyes. Painting, like any form of expression, is about embracing the unknown and trusting that something meaningful will emerge.