Table 1936

Hans Westendorff made this little watercolour of a table, and it’s so precise, so careful! You know, the way the medium’s been used here makes me think of the art of seeing. What to include, what to leave out. How to make something solid feel light. The table seems to hover there, the ground an endless nothingness. I bet Westendorff liked the challenge of capturing the table's curves and the way the light catches on its surface. The tabletop swirls and dances, with a life of its own. I reckon he loved how the wood grain made its own abstract patterns. It’s like he’s saying, "Even something as ordinary as a table can be a source of wonder if you really look at it." Painters—we're all in this conversation, always looking and learning from each other, finding new ways to see the world.