Boy's Coat c. 1937

Nancy Crimi made this drawing of a boy's coat on paper at some point in the 20th century. It's a simple, elegant, and precise line drawing, a sort of ghost of a garment. I can almost feel Nancy’s hand moving across the page, carefully mapping out each detail. Did she have the actual coat in front of her, or was she working from memory? I imagine her thinking about the original object: its size, shape, and how it would look on a child. The simple black lines, and the symmetry, give it a feel of something sacred. It reminds me that artists are always in conversation with each other, across time and space, even with those creating functional or everyday objects, and how this constant exchange inspires creativity and new ways of seeing. Painting, like drawing, becomes a form of embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, and opening up multiple interpretations.