Wood Carving - Scroll c. 1939

This is Lionel Ritchey's Wood Carving - Scroll, made with something like watercolour or gouache on paper, and it’s all about these woody tones, like the inside of a really old, solid tree. I love how Ritchey uses paint to mimic the feel of carved wood, with all those swirling, organic shapes. It feels like you could almost touch it and feel the texture, but it’s all in the brushwork. Look how the darker browns are layered to give depth, suggesting the shadows where the wood might curve. It’s not just a flat image; it's trying to capture the physicality of the thing. It reminds me a bit of some of the Pattern and Decoration artists, like Joyce Kozloff, who were also interested in ornamentation and craft, but Ritchey's got this unique take, making it all about the material itself. It is a reminder that art is in an ongoing conversation across time, where meaning is always multiple.