Coat 1935 - 1942

Roberta Spicer made this drawing of a coat, we don’t know exactly when, in what seems to be a kind of muted palette of browns, blacks and whites. The light washes of color and carefully drawn outlines convey a sense of form and depth without ever feeling too controlled or precise. Look closely and you’ll see how the artist has used layers of thin color to build up the tones and shadows in the coat, giving it a subtle luminosity. The details are rendered with precision, yet there’s a looseness to the overall composition that invites interpretation. See the buttons running down the coat, each one carefully placed to create a sense of rhythm and balance. The drawing’s not trying to be a photo, it is a conversation, it is open ended. Spicer’s work reminds me of the drawings of fashion designers like Erte, who were also interested in capturing the elegance and sophistication of clothing through simple, yet refined mark making. Both artists seem interested in art as an ongoing conversation, and the possibility of multiple interpretations.