Florals Black & White

A monochromatic watercolor that takes the most traditional of subjects — flowers in a vase — and pushes it almost to abstraction. Staley works in bold black ink washes against a soft neutral ground, reducing the arrangement to silhouette and negative space, the blooms recognizable but barely, held together more by gesture than by detail. There's a quiet drama to it — the contrast stark, the handling loose and assured — that gives the piece an energy most floral works don't have.
Unsigned, in its original frame with new Museum Tru Vue glass. Minor undulations and light toning to the sheet consistent with age, some dust beneath glazing and light wear to the frame.