Spur c. 1940

Curator: My gut reaction? Ouch! Those spikes... I feel like I’ve been kicked by a horse just looking at it. Editor: Well, that visceral response is understandable. This is William Kieckhofel's watercolor and drawing titled "Spur," created around 1940. Curator: It’s rendered with such intense realism, that aged rust just pops. But even so, it still holds an undeniable abstract appeal for me. I’m wondering, did Kieckhofel have some intense encounters with horses growing up, or is there some deeper symbolism going on here? Editor: Beyond a specific biography of the artist, it serves as a brutal reminder of control and domination, right? Consider the period. Think about power structures... humans over animals, certainly. But more broadly, the exertion of force and influence during wartime. This humble object carries weighty connotations. Curator: So, not just about horseback riding in the Wild West... more like a metal metaphor! The prongs jut out in such aggression; I see your point. The shape is balanced, the rust is realistically rendered but it can’t mask its sharp brutality. The blank space surrounding the spur throws the texture and the shape into even starker contrast. Editor: Exactly. The artistry here serves to amplify that uncomfortable feeling, that lingering violence. It really makes us question the justifications of power—both in the past, and in our contemporary moment. Curator: Art does what it's meant to do when it starts a fire like that. Editor: Absolutely. It's a potent object to ignite such important, reflective conversations, centuries later. Curator: Indeed! I will definitely be seeing this unassuming spur in a totally different, brighter, sharper light from now on.