Two Weather Vanes c. 1936

Elmer G. Anderson made this study of two weathervanes in pencil and ink on paper. Look at how Anderson has captured the flat, planar quality of these metal objects. The way the pencil has been applied, thinly and evenly, almost mimics the smooth surface of the original vanes. I am drawn to the inscription on the banner, ‘Jacobitset, Ano 1764,’ a date heavy with historical echoes. It sits above the silhouette of the horseman, rifle raised, against these hand-drawn, compass-like circles. It's a little like the diagram of an idea. There’s a tension between the precision of the technical drawing and the suggestive nature of its subject. It reminds me of Charles Sheeler’s paintings of barns, but with a touch more folk charm. This feels like a study in contrasts, celebrating art and the everyday, precision and the organic, old and new.