Cock Weather Vane 1935 - 1942

Joseph Rothenberg made this weather vane on paper using paint or watercolor. It's a rooster, ready to tell you which way the wind blows. I love the simplicity of the color here, how Rothenberg used just a few shades of brown and grey to create the texture and form. You can see how the marks build up and follow the contours of the bird's body, especially in the tail feathers. I can imagine him carefully applying each stroke, building up the layers of paint. There's something really beautiful about how he's managed to capture the essence of the rooster with such minimal means. It reminds me of some folk art I've seen, where artists use whatever materials they have to hand and create something really special. It's like he's saying something about the everyday, about finding beauty in the simplest of things.