Saddle Bags c. 1938

Edward Jewett made this watercolor painting of saddle bags, rendering a detailed drawing on paper. I can imagine him squinting to get the details just right. The saddle bags are brown leather and seem soft. I love how the light falls across the surface, making them appear almost three-dimensional, but also flat against the page. Look closely and you will notice a decorative heart and a buckle that holds the bags closed. I wonder about the original saddle bags. Were they for everyday use, or were they special? I imagine they carry precious cargo across vast landscapes. Did the artist want to immortalize them? There's a kind of care in the way the saddlebags are depicted, a sensitivity that makes me feel connected to the past. Artists continue this tradition; we all are in conversation with each other, riffing on old ideas and making them our own.