Horse Head Hitching Post 1938

This is Alexander Anderson's Horse Head Hitching Post made on paper, probably in 1934. It's a study in browns and greys, built with visible strokes. Looking at the horse's head, you can almost feel the texture of the cast iron. Anderson captures the way light catches on the rough surface, giving it depth. It's like he's not just showing us the object, but also the process of observing it. The soft rendering gives the solid iron a ghostly appearance, like something conjured from a dream. It reminds me of Charles Sheeler's precisionist drawings of industrial forms, but with a folk art sensibility. Where Sheeler found beauty in mechanical perfection, Anderson seems drawn to the imperfect charm of a weathered object. The way he describes form through light and shadow makes you think about art as an ongoing exploration. There's no right or wrong answer, just different ways of seeing.