Leather Hat Box c. 1940

Clarence W. Dawson made this watercolor painting of a leather hat box, and you know what, I can really get into this object! I bet Dawson was attracted to the warm, earthy tones of the leather, trying to get all the details right. You can imagine him carefully layering the washes of brown, building up the shadows and highlights to give the box its volume, right? And that moment when he chooses the right green color and the perfect brush to draw the stripes inside the hat box... He must have known that the lining would make the whole artwork sing! I wonder if the hat box was his own, maybe something he used to store his favorite hat. You can see that he cares about it. There's something so intimate about painting an everyday object, transforming it into something special. It reminds me a little of Giorgio Morandi, don't you think? Like him, Dawson takes something commonplace and elevates it through the simple act of painting. And that's why it's still interesting!