Spur c. 1937

Vera Van Voris made this watercolor and graphite drawing of a spur during the twentieth century. A spur is a metal tool worn on the heels of riders and used to make a horse move forward or faster, so this image might prompt us to reflect on the relationship between humans, animals, and technology. Van Voris was an American artist, and the imagery of the spur has deep associations with the culture of the American West, evoking a period of territorial expansion, cattle ranching, and conflict with Native American populations. We might think about the mythology of the cowboy, and its place in the culture industries of the twentieth century; considering the importance of the Western genre in Hollywood movies, for example. To better understand the image, we might look at museum collections of cowboy gear or study photographs from the period. We might ask, what did it mean for Van Voris to picture this object, with its complicated historical associations? The meaning of art always depends on its social and institutional context.