Figurehead c. 1938

Frances Cohen made this watercolor called Figurehead some time between the 1870s and the 1930s. The controlled palette of whites, reds, and blues, makes the piece approachable. I love art when it's just, like, really really good at describing something in the world. It’s really skillful, the way the Cohen has depicted this object. You can see it’s a carving, but it's also an image of something, a woman maybe, or a figure from a boat. It's so literal it's almost abstract. The way she renders the folds in the figure's dress with thin, transparent washes of paint gives the fabric a sense of depth and volume, despite the two-dimensionality of the medium. I love how the red of the base mirrors the red trim on the dress, creating a visual echo that holds the composition together. It reminds me a bit of Fairfield Porter in its slightly abstracted, representational style. Ultimately, it shows how art is always in conversation with itself, borrowing and transforming ideas across time.