Hat Mannequin and Bonnet c. 1937

Howard Weld made this watercolor of a Hat Mannequin and Bonnet, but we don’t know exactly when. What strikes me is Weld's meticulous approach, laying down these soft washes in even strokes, building up the form. You can almost feel the surface, right? I'm drawn to the way the light catches the mannequin’s bonnet, those subtle gradations of color give it such a lovely sense of depth. Then there’s that bold green, grounded by the black band. I wonder what Weld was thinking? Was he selling hats? Was he thinking about how colors and shapes create a mood? Weld shares a certain something with Florine Stettheimer, that same delicate touch. Like Stettheimer, Weld isn't afraid to embrace ambiguity, to leave us with questions instead of answers. Art is like that, an ongoing conversation, isn't it?