Running Horse Weather Vane c. 1937

Here's a Running Horse Weather Vane, drawn with graphite and watercolor, by Alfred Denghausen. Just look at that beautiful chestnut brown! I can imagine him outside on a windy day, studying the movements of horses against the sky. I wonder if Denghausen felt a kinship with these animals, or if they represented some untamed aspect of the natural world he hoped to capture. The way the horse is rendered, with those subtle gradations of tone, gives it a solid, almost sculptural presence, even as it appears to be leaping across the page. It reminds me a bit of some Renaissance bronzes – all muscle and dynamism!