Fish Weather Vane c. 1938

Albert Ryder made this fish weather vane out of graphite and watercolor wash on paper. When I look at it I imagine he was thinking about the way an object meets wind and weather, that he was thinking through the action of painting itself. See how the fish seems to emerge, almost like a drawing from a child's book? The pale wash gives a gentle, airy quality, but the precise graphite lines offer a contrasting sense of sharpness. It's like he's captured a moment of stillness, a fleeting glimpse of a fish in a dream. Think about all the folk artists, all the whittlers, carvers, and painters of the past whose art has drifted into the present, like flotsam, reminding us that art is a continuous dialogue across time. Ryder seems to nod to these traditions, echoing their playful exploration of form and surface. This little fish has so much to tell!