Carousel Horse c. 1938

Albert Ryder rendered this Carousel Horse with watercolor and graphite on paper. Ryder was born in 1911, just as America was entering the early stages of its love affair with amusement parks and the mechanical wonders of the machine age. But this isn’t just a horse, is it? Look closer. There’s a winged figure where you might expect a saddle blanket. What does it mean to combine the animal, the machine, and this classical figure? The winged figure speaks to a certain kind of idealized masculinity and strength. Ryder created this image as part of the Index of American Design. Established in the midst of the Great Depression, the Index employed artists to document American decorative art objects, and perhaps remind a nation struggling with its identity of its ingenuity. The horse, caught mid-stride, is a vehicle of fantasy, but also a symbol of resilience.