Love Tokens c. 1938

Editor: Charles Bowman’s "Love Tokens," a watercolor drawing from around 1938, presents a quartet of embroidered emblems. They almost appear as studies, carefully arranged on a subtle backdrop. What immediately strikes me is the textural contrast and precision, and a gentle domesticity. What do you notice about the composition, considered purely from a visual standpoint? Curator: From a formalist perspective, the composition emphasizes a deliberate arrangement and the use of round forms. The composition establishes a visual rhythm through repetition and variation. How does the interplay between line and color affect your reading of the ‘tokens’? Editor: I see that the textures seem implied through delicate hatching, instead of simply presented through the colors themselves. The fine linework imbues each token with a different character; one seems rigid and modern while another appears soft. Does that disparity have a meaning or a cause in Bowman's other artistic works? Curator: Observe how each motif presents a microcosm of texture and tonal value independent of what we believe it depicts; whether botanical, graphic, or abstract, its significance is generated by this self-contained framework. Focus instead on Bowman’s manipulation of the watercolor medium; see how he evokes qualities with a very controlled hand, and perhaps that understanding may enlighten the ‘tokens’. Editor: I'd been looking for a concrete narrative, but the emphasis should really be on Bowman’s visual technique itself, shouldn't it? I realize the arrangement provides just as much to learn about, in how the elements complement or offset one another. Curator: Exactly. These emblems act as pure arrangements and expressions rather than symbolic forms. With each observation, a richer and more complete engagement with Bowman's drawing becomes attainable.