Man's Hat c. 1937

Creighton Kay-Scott created this drawing of a 'Man's Hat' using what appears to be watercolour on paper. There’s an interesting duality at play here – a hat rendered with meticulous detail sits alongside a more ephemeral outline drawing. Look at how the brown tones are built up, almost like a three-dimensional object appearing from the page, then notice the ghostly presence of the simple line drawing next to it, and this contrast really stands out. There’s something playful in this dance between solid and spectral forms, perhaps suggesting a meditation on form and representation. It makes me think about the drawings of Giorgio Morandi, where simple, everyday objects are depicted with a similar kind of quiet intensity and repetition. Like Morandi, Kay-Scott embraces ambiguity, inviting us to ponder not just what we see, but how we see.