Lowboy c. 1936

Arthur Johnson made this 'Lowboy' on paper, and it's all about lines and colours describing a piece of furniture, but it feels so much more. Look at those legs, how they curve just so. I can almost see Arthur, bent over his work, carefully rendering each line with a fine brush, trying to capture the light as it hits the wood. What was he thinking as he painted? Was he lost in the act of replication, or was he adding something? Those dark lines around the edges give it such definition, and the lighter washes soften everything up. See how each stroke builds up to make something solid. There is something about the quiet dedication in this piece that reminds me of other painters who obsessively depict objects – Morandi with his bottles, for instance. It’s like they’re trying to understand the world, one object at a time. Every artist is in conversation with others, pushing each other to see things differently, to really look. We get to participate in that looking too.