Weather Vane c. 1940

Curator: Standing before us is Carl Strehlau's watercolor drawing, "Weather Vane," created around 1940. Editor: I find it immediately endearing. There’s a palpable sense of American folk art in the simplified form and warm earthy tones. It looks so solid! Curator: Absolutely. The early twentieth century witnessed a surge in interest in folk traditions and Americana. Artists and historians began looking critically at what had been discarded, trying to discover its intrinsic value. This charming image clearly participates in that broader cultural movement. Editor: The image speaks of strength, groundedness—a primal connection to the land. The bull has always been a powerful symbol. Think of the Cretan Bull, the Golden Calf... or even Wall Street. I wonder what Strehlau meant to convey here. Curator: Considering its title, “Weather Vane,” this bull takes on added meaning. Weathervanes serve as visual indicators of shifting conditions; perhaps the bull represents steadfastness in the face of those changes. This evokes notions of rural stability against the backdrop of immense social and economic change happening in the United States during this period. Editor: Interesting. The simplification almost turns it into an ideogram—something beyond just an animal depiction, carrying layers of ancestral and contemporary weight. The slightly unfocused quality, typical of watercolors, contributes to a sense of memory, almost like a childhood reminiscence. Curator: It’s precisely this ability of everyday images to trigger such rich associations that drove so many historians toward the study of art! There is inherent value in these types of commonplace cultural productions and representations, especially when taken up into visual artwork. The artist may have drawn a weather vane, but captured something greater in that depiction. Editor: Indeed! A single image holds a whole world of stories. Thanks for untangling a few strands for me. Curator: The pleasure was all mine.