Child's Folding Chair c. 1938

Magnus S. Fossum made this watercolor of a "Child's Folding Chair," but when I look at it, I see more than just a chair. I imagine Fossum hunched over the paper, carefully layering washes of red and brown, trying to capture the light hitting the wood. He’s really committed to the humble object, right? The chair becomes this sort of meditation on form and function. Think about how many studies Cezanne made of a vase of flowers or Morandi made of bottles. I love how the red sings against the stark white ground. It’s like the chair is floating in space, inviting us to sit and consider the simple beauty of everyday things. The grain of the wood is really accentuated, it’s got this real sense of texture. It reminds me that artists are always teaching us to see the extraordinary in the ordinary.