The Door Step c. 1940s

Andrew Wyeth made this watercolor painting called The Door Step; we don’t know exactly when. The composition is all about the artist's choices of what to include, exclude, and suggest. The overall palette is muted, focusing on earthy tones and grays, which creates a melancholic, almost ghostly mood. I’m drawn to the way he handles the foreground with its tangle of grasses and that solitary seashell, rendered in such stark white against the subtle background. The physical quality of the paint is thin and watery, which allows for those beautiful, translucent washes that define the space. You can almost feel the dampness of the air. Wyeth’s mark-making is incredibly sensitive. Look at how he suggests form with just a few strokes of his brush. That shell, for instance, is not precisely detailed. It’s more of an impression, a memory of a shell. Wyeth makes me think of Edward Hopper; both had a genius for using everyday imagery to evoke deeper emotions.