This delicate piece began as a study for Queen Street Window, a close-up of one of three shelves of glass and ceramic objects. Like the work of Jan Vermeer (1632-75), who used a camera obscura, this painting reveals the influence of photography, but without the hard edges and depth of field typical of later photorealists; so close is the zoom that the forms are beginning to dissolve and become insubstantial. This painting is one of several instances in which a study evolved into an independent major work. With its multiple loose washes and limited drybrush detail, it became a tour de force of the later, freer watercolour style of the Window Series.

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