Doll c. 1939

Henry Murphy made this watercolor and graphite illustration of a doll, sometime in the 20th century. Look at how the wooden doll with its dark skirt is centered against a plain background. The simplicity of the composition draws us into the doll's structure. Notice how the artist used line and tone to distinguish the carved wooden texture of the doll's body from the smoother surface of its fabric skirt. This contrast of textures creates visual interest, inviting a tactile response. The doll's stylized features—the flat, mask-like face and simplified limbs—give it a primitive, almost iconic quality. Yet the artist also captures the doll's handcrafted nature, emphasizing the marks of the tool on the wood. This interplay between abstraction and representation speaks to the broader concerns of modernism, where artists explored new ways of seeing and representing the world. Murphy's doll becomes more than just an image; it's a study in form, texture, and the very essence of representation.