Horn Lantern c. 1939

Dolores Haupt made this watercolour, Horn Lantern, in an unknown year. It's like she's taken a mundane object and given it a real sense of presence, you know? Look at how she’s used watercolour in thin layers to build up the form. The paint is quite transparent, which gives the lantern this lovely, almost ghostly glow. And then there are these dark, decisive strokes defining the edges of the metalwork. It's like she’s tracing the object's history with each brushstroke. The way she captures the light filtering through the horn panels is really beautiful. It’s not just about depicting a lantern; it’s about capturing light and shadow. It puts me in mind of the Shaker artists, like, say, Rufus Porter, who found a certain grace in utility. The work embraces ambiguity and multiple interpretations over fixed or definitive meanings.