Side Chair 1935 - 1942

Gilbert Sackerman made this watercolor painting of a 'Side Chair' sometime during his long life. The sepia-toned study shows a fairly detailed representation of a leather-seated chair against a creamy paper background. I can imagine Sackerman carefully building up the image in layers. He must have thought about the angles, and the textures that make this chair what it is, from the smooth wooden legs to the taut leather of the seat and back support. I wonder if the artist owned such a chair himself, and whether he placed it by a window to get the light just so... But then you look again and realize that actually it's a fairly loose rendering. The colour palette is restrained, and Sackerman is unafraid of letting the pencil sketch marks show through. Like Fairfield Porter, Sackerman wasn't afraid of using watercolors for complex composition. These painters teach us that we can use the simplest materials to make enduring images.