Hitching Post c. 1939

George E. Rhone’s watercolor painting presents a figure with stark contrasts, from the red jacket and yellow hat to the black face and white trousers. I imagine Rhone, brush in hand, carefully laying down each color, building up the form with delicate washes. The flat, unmodulated fields of color give the figure a striking, almost graphic quality. I wonder what Rhone was thinking as he rendered this figure. There is a graphic sensibility here, maybe a nod to folk art traditions, or even commercial illustration. It reminds me of the way self-taught artists embrace simplicity, reducing forms to their essential elements. Painting is a conversation across time, and Rhone, whether consciously or not, was participating in this dialogue, drawing on the visual language of his time while forging his own unique path. It leaves us with more questions than answers, inviting us to contemplate its complexities and contradictions.