The princess offered the soldier a goblet of wine. 1921

Margaret Evans Price made this mysterious image called 'The princess offered the soldier a goblet of wine', we don't know when, or with what, but I think it looks like a drawing which has been coloured in using muted paints. The marks are precise, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of feeling in the image. I love the flat colour and crisp lines in this image, it gives it a quality which feels a little like a playing card, or something used in a board game. Everything has been thought through in advance, from the colour palette to the composition. But there is also something ambiguous in the image: what does it mean? Why does the princess offer the soldier wine? Are they old friends, or is something more going on? The artist leaves it for us to decide, and I really appreciate that. I am reminded of the work of Edward Bawden, another artist and illustrator, who used flat colours and strong lines in his linocuts and prints. Like Bawden, Price's picture doesn't tell us what to think, but invites us to dream.