Man's Shoe 1935 - 1942

Nancy Crimi made this small drawing of a shoe, we don't know when, and with what, exactly. But it looks like graphite and watercolor, laid down with a delicate hand. I love the precision, the almost scientific approach. Look at the way she's rendered the different views of the shoe: the side, and then, up top, the plan view of the front and back. It's like she's mapping out the object, trying to understand it from all angles. The gray wash she's used gives the shoe a kind of ghostly presence, like it's fading away even as we look at it. And that little pop of red on the heel? It's like a tiny burst of energy, a reminder that even the most mundane objects can hold a spark of life. It reminds me a little of the work of Alex Katz, his flat planes of color and everyday subject matter. But Crimi has her own distinct voice, her own way of seeing the world. Art's all about that conversation, isn't it?