Shapton's Shapes

Even though Leanne Shapton’s blue-and-cream watercolor of two “vintage clothes hangers” appeared in the magazine more than two months ago, (see "Recently Favorited," The New Yorker, September 21, 2015), I find myself still thinking about it. The images are recognizably clothes hangers; likeness hasn’t been abandoned. Yet, they’re also pure shapes, as simply and fluidly painted as Chinese calligraphy. Are clothes hangers beautiful? I didn’t think so until I saw Shapton’s exquisite watercolor. I guess that’s what draws me to it. It embodies what, for me, is one of art’s main purposes – “to give the mundane its beautiful due” (John Updike).