Wooden Shoe 1939

Samuel Faigin made this painting of a shoe on paper. Look at the way he's used color; there's such a limited palette, but it's so effective. I love the contrast between the dark shoe and the bright red strap – it really pops. The painting has a real tactile quality, doesn't it? You can almost feel the smoothness of the wood and the rough texture of the strap. The way Faigin has rendered the light, especially on the sole, gives the shoe a real sense of weight. I am really drawn to the small, almost diagrammatic sketch of the shoe at the bottom left of the image - as if he has taken the time to understand the object that he is painting, from all angles. For me, this painting is a reminder that art doesn't always have to be grand or complicated. Sometimes, the simplest things can be the most beautiful. It reminds me a bit of Morandi's still lifes, in that way, finding something profound in the everyday.