Wall Clock c. 1938

Frank Wenger made this 'Wall Clock' without providing a date, but he lived a long life, dying at the age of 100. I imagine him carefully rendering the wood grain of the clock’s case. See how the paint is applied thinly, allowing the texture of the paper to show through? You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the surface, gently building up the tones and shadows. I wonder what Wenger was thinking about as he painted this scene. Was it an act of preservation, an attempt to capture a fleeting moment in time? The precision and clarity with which Wenger has depicted the clock remind me of other painters who blur the line between representation and abstraction. It's as if he's inviting us to reconsider our relationship with time, and to appreciate the beauty and complexity of the everyday. Artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.