Retablo (Virgin) c. 1937

Majel G. Claflin painted this Retablo of the Virgin, probably in the 1930s, with watercolor on paper. Look at the way the colors puddle a bit, giving the work a kind of softness, an ease. I imagine Claflin in her studio, maybe in Taos, where she lived most of her life, deeply focused but loose in her execution. It’s interesting to consider the dialogue between folk art and modernism at this moment in American art history. Claflin was working at the same time as Marsden Hartley and Georgia O’Keefe, who were both deeply inspired by the American Southwest and by folk traditions. I like to think they might have crossed paths, debating the role of art, of painting. You get the feeling that Claflin was committed to her vision, in her own way, painting for herself. The slight awkwardness of the figure makes me feel for her. It’s not slick or polished, but earnest. That little crown, the cross, that green collar, feel as heartfelt as any grand history painting.