"Sinbad" Marionette c. 1938

George File made this “Sinbad” marionette, perhaps from wood and string, and then, later, rendered it on paper. You can almost see the strings in the air and imagine the artist holding the marionette. I feel a pang of connection with File, imagining him trying to bring this character to life through the puppet, and then again, trying to capture the essence of the puppet in this drawing. Those baggy red pants are just so wonderful! I wonder if File had a whole theater of these characters? And, did the puppets come first, or the drawings? The artist's hand seems to guide the puppet, just as it guides the pencil, bringing Sinbad into being in multiple ways. I can almost feel the rough texture of the wood, the way the paint might have chipped or faded over time. And you see how the colors—those blues and reds and yellows—pop against the pale ground. File isn't just drawing a puppet; he's imbuing it with a life of its own, a story that dances between the real and the imagined, and a little piece of himself too.