Carousel Horse 1940

John W. Kelleher’s painting of a carousel horse is rendered with gentle brushstrokes and a playful colour palette. I can just imagine him, paintbrush in hand, figuring out how to capture the essence of this amusement park icon! There’s something so charming about the way Kelleher depicts the horse's form, with its sturdy legs and flowing mane. You can almost feel the wood grain beneath the paint. I find myself wondering what Kelleher was thinking as he brushed those colours onto the canvas. Did he have memories of childhood carousels dancing in his mind? Was he trying to freeze a fleeting moment of joy and nostalgia? Artists like Kelleher are in constant conversation, you know, riffing off of and responding to each other across time. He reminds us that painting is not just about replicating reality. It's about translating our inner worlds onto a surface. It embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations and meaning over fixed or definitive readings.