Theatre Box, 1892 c. 1947

Perkins Harnly made this theater box in 1892 with watercolor, graphite, and paper. It’s all about the frills, isn’t it? I wonder what Harnly was thinking when they painted this, so many details; an overwhelming sense of grandeur. All those gilded embellishments and swags! I can almost feel the plush velvet under my fingers. I imagine Harnly, carefully layering each brushstroke, building up the textures and patterns with incredible precision. It’s such a detailed painting. He probably loved the process of watching this glamorous space come to life, one tiny stroke at a time. Painters, we're all magpies, picking up shiny bits and bobs from each other. I wonder what other artists inspired Harnly? What theaters did they visit? There’s so much happening here, you just get totally lost in it all. That’s what I love about painting, its capacity for ambiguity and uncertainty; allowing for multiple interpretations beyond fixed readings.