Doctor's Buggy c. 1936

Fred Weiss made this Doctor’s Buggy with pencil and watercolour sometime during his lifetime, which stretched almost a century. It’s a very straightforward rendering, and the sombre, monochromatic palette gives the image a real sense of gravity. There’s something about the precision in the drawing of the wheels and their spokes that draws me in. They’re very slightly wonky, which makes them feel incredibly real. I imagine Weiss bent over the paper, carefully inking in each of those tiny lines, maybe even counting them as he went. It’s this attention to detail that makes the drawing so compelling. And the colour! Or lack of colour… I mean, who knew a buggy could be so chic in shades of grey? It’s like a still from an early movie. It reminds me of Charles Sheeler's precise, almost photographic paintings of industrial subjects. But Weiss’s hand-drawn touch gives it a warmth and personality that you don’t always find in Sheeler’s work. Art’s like a big conversation, right?