Boy's Suit 1935 - 1942

Editor: Here we have Nancy Crimi's "Boy's Suit," a watercolor drawing created between 1935 and 1942. I’m immediately drawn to the texture - the soft rendering of the velvet gives the garment a real sense of volume, even though it’s presented without a body. What do you see in this piece from a formal perspective? Curator: Crimi's work showcases a keen awareness of compositional balance through the contrasting textures and colours. The plushness of the velvet juxtaposes against the delicate lace trim and the controlled rendering of the floral patterns, don't you think? This tension adds a layer of visual interest, and moves it away from simply being a record of an object. Editor: Absolutely! The bright red jacket versus the dark green trousers is striking too. How do the colour choices support the work as a whole? Curator: The bold colours work in tandem to separate and differentiate the shapes and texture of the items depicted. The lace detailing and ornate floral embroidery draw the eye, making the ordinary – garments–into objects for closer inspection, allowing the eye to move across and around the picture plane. What do you make of the floating form of the clothes? Editor: I initially found the floating quality unsettling. Now I'm thinking about how the removal of the body actually heightens the focus on the form and construction of the clothes themselves. It removes the portrait and lets the "portrait" of tailoring come forward. Curator: Precisely! We begin to appreciate the craftsmanship, the lines, and the overall structure, abstracted from the human form. The artist elevates utilitarian dress into something worthy of our visual contemplation, achieving, through the orchestration of color, texture, and composition, a statement on form itself. Editor: I see it now! Thanks for the lesson in looking closely!