Hitchcock Chair 1935 - 1942

Genevieve Sherlock painted this Hitchcock Chair, in what looks like gouache or maybe tempera, with a limited palette of black, gold, and a straw-colored seat. I can almost feel Sherlock figuring out how to render something solid in paint, the process of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world all rolled into one. Imagine her, carefully laying down each stroke, maybe stepping back, squinting, adjusting, trying to get it just right. Look how the black paint seems to both define the shape and hint at the light reflecting off the surface. The straw seat is interesting – how it's simplified to convey texture and depth. It's like a conversation between the hand, the eye, and the object. Painters are always in dialogue across time, picking up on each other’s moves, and pushing the conversation forward. Painting is about embodied expression that embraces ambiguity and uncertainty and leaves us with so many interpretations.