Weather Vane - Horse 1935 - 1942

Curator: This is a watercolor and mixed-media drawing of a horse weather vane, created anonymously between 1935 and 1942. Editor: My first thought? It's spectral somehow. Like a ghost galloping across a faded sky, carrying secrets of farms long past. The patina, though painted, reads as genuinely aged. Curator: I agree about the spectral quality. Consider the interplay of line and wash. The artist captured the metallic sheen of the weathervane while implying movement through the horse’s posture. There is tension between static representation and dynamic suggestion. Editor: It's the simplicity that grabs me. Minimal lines, almost childlike in their directness. Yet, within those lines, a whole world unfolds. Wind, weather, the endless turning of seasons on the land… Curator: It’s intriguing to imagine why the artist chose this subject. A weather vane, traditionally a functional object, transformed into art. Is it a celebration of rural life, an exploration of form, or something more abstract? Editor: Maybe it’s all those things. My eye keeps being drawn to the coloration. What materials do you think create that blue-green, coppery tone? It feels so evocative. Like oxidized bronze dreaming in color... or perhaps longing for green grass after gazing upon brown earth for long. Curator: Likely a combination of watercolor washes and colored pencil to build depth and simulate the verdigris often seen on aged copper. Note how it is used to create shading, highlighting key features to lend a three-dimensional feel despite existing on a flat surface. Editor: Knowing the drawing dates to the late '30s-early '40s also layers into my experience. It suggests a perspective – an eye watching over the landscape during very uncertain times. There's something inherently resilient symbolized here, both practically and aesthetically... A constant watchfulness, ever adaptive like an active consciousness upon a windswept rooftop Curator: That adds a powerful dimension. Considering the period and anonymous creator, we must consider various economic and social factors too in approaching how we view artwork Editor: So, for me, this unassuming piece becomes so much more than the illustration of an object; it is a gentle reminder, almost, that some truths and realities persist regardless. And the best thing about that notion, when approaching the reality in our current times, this can actually fill you with inspiration when needed the most.