Hitching Post c. 1937

Gladys Phillips painted “Hitching Post” using watercolor, which gives the image a soft and almost nostalgic feel. I imagine her patiently layering the brown washes to capture the textures of the wood and the metallic sheen of the horse’s head. I wonder what Phillips was thinking as she painted each curve and line. Was she remembering a specific hitching post from her childhood, or was she more focused on the formal qualities of the object? The choice to paint it isolated against a blank background really asks us to focus on the object, to think about what it represents. And then there’s that horse’s head. What’s with the ring in its mouth? I guess it is a call back to an earlier age, when horses were central to our lives and travels. Phillips is in conversation with other painters, across time, who find inspiration in everyday objects. It’s a way of preserving a memory, a moment, an atmosphere.