Figurehead from Schooner "Packet" 1935 - 1942

Elizabeth Moutal made this watercolour painting of a ship's figurehead, most likely at her home in the mid-Atlantic United States. Looking at this, I can't help but imagine Moutal, brush in hand, carefully building up the colours on the page. She's using thin washes of colour to capture the sheen on the figurehead's golden leaves. I bet it was challenging to find the right shade of pink for the face and the right grey for the drapery. The small details of the face, like the eyes, nose, and mouth, suggest the real character of this figure. It's clear that Moutal has a deep appreciation of folk art. She pays homage to the tradition of maritime craft, but, like other painters, she also shows us how to see the world in new ways. What does this woman see as she looks out to the ocean? What do we see? Painters are in conversation with one another across time, inspiring each other's creativity. Moutal helps us to see the relationship between representation and reality, opening a space of imagination around the artwork.