Figurehead: Julius Caesar 1935 - 1942

This portrait of Julius Caesar is rendered in watercolor over graphite on paper, by an unknown artist. The light here is fascinating: it emerges like a pale, creamy substance, seemingly independent of the figure itself. I wonder what this artist was thinking. Did they start with the idea of Caesar, or did the idea of a figure emerge through the act of layering strokes? Look at the way the blue watercolor wash surrounds the figure, creating a sense of depth and distance. This watery ground is so evocative. The drawing has a real material presence. The artist really relishes the texture, color, and surface quality. What is revealed here is a fascination with the process of image-making itself. Artists have forever been in a constant dance through time, picking up on each other’s moves and grooves, passing the inspiration on, and keeping the conversation flowing. Painting and drawing are a kind of embodied thinking – a way of knowing what we don’t yet know.