Gentlemen's Smoking Lounge c. 1942

Leonard Battee made this watercolor rendering of a chaise lounge in tones of tan and brown sometime in the 20th century. The shape has such a great curve. I can imagine Battee slowly building up the form with thin layers of paint, the liquid seeping into the paper. It’s a delicate but exacting method, demanding control but also, in some ways, encouraging the accidents and seepages that make watercolor so special. It's a great example of representational painting that is also abstract. The chaise lounge feels timeless. I love that the title, *Gentlemen's Smoking Lounge*, is almost as evocative as the image. I can see the ghosts of 19th-century artists like Manet and Caillebotte floating around this piece—their own investigations into representing modern life. There's a shared interest in the everyday, the intimate, and the fleeting moment, connecting these artists across time.