Horse Weather Vane 1935 - 1942

Joseph Rothenberg made this Horse Weather Vane, sometime after 1855, from graphite and watercolor. Isn't it funny how a simple shape can carry so much feeling? The horse is caught mid-gallop, and the artist really understood how to make the most of very little, just a few tones of grey. There's something so playful and free about it, like a doodle come to life. Look closely at the horse's legs and how they are shaded in a darker tone of grey. It gives them a kind of rough-and-tumble energy. The surface has this quality of being slightly unfinished that adds to its charm. It reminds me a bit of those old folk art pieces, like the ones by Bill Traylor, where the artists just grabbed whatever they had around and made something amazing. It's like they're all part of this big, ongoing conversation, figuring out how to make something out of nothing.