Horse Weather Vane 1940

Selma Sandler made this painting of a Horse Weather Vane with a lot of love and attention to detail, probably in the late 20th century. The palette here is tight, mostly browns and beiges, but it speaks volumes. Look at the way the horse's body is rendered, so smooth and sleek, almost like polished wood, and then that fabulous tail! It’s a flurry of brushstrokes. You can almost feel the wind rustling through it. And the platform that the horse is standing on, like a grounding force. This piece reminds me a little of Elie Nadelman's sculptures – that same elegant simplicity, that reduction to essential forms. But Sandler brings her own folksy charm to the mix. It’s a wonderful example of how artists can take traditional forms and make them their own, adding their own unique voice to the ongoing conversation of art history. It makes you wonder what other treasures are hidden in plain sight, just waiting for us to discover them.