Tall Clock c. 1938

Ferdinand Cartier created this drawing of a tall clock, we don't know exactly when, using watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paper. I love the way Cartier’s rendering embraces a kind of technical precision, but also, just kinda melts into pure sensation. I keep thinking about surface when I look at this. The even, almost flattened perspective, creates a strange tension between the object and its representation. The subtle variations in the wood grain, achieved through delicate watercolor washes, feel so tactile, like you could run your hand over the surface. Notice the darker patch in the middle section, how it evokes a ghostly figure, almost like a hidden presence within the wood itself. It kinda reminds me of Charles Sheeler's paintings, especially the way he finds abstraction within industrial forms. But Cartier’s got something else going on, a kind of whimsical warmth that keeps it from being too serious. It's a reminder that art is always in conversation, borrowing and transforming ideas across time.