Bulto, Crucifix c. 1937

Majel G. Claflin made this painting of a Bulto, Crucifix sometime in the first half of the 20th century using watercolor and graphite on paper. Looking at the image, I can see an interesting dynamic between the flat and the round. The artist has created a sense of volume through simple shading. I bet when she was making this she was thinking about how to translate a three-dimensional object onto a two-dimensional surface. The blood drips are rendered as separate marks of paint, which gives a certain stylized effect. It is as if the artist is looking at something, and then looking at it again, trying to render the thing that is in front of her. The crown of thorns reminds me of Philip Guston’s late paintings, but with more clearly defined edges. I see this painting as part of a broader conversation artists are having, in which the history of art informs the present.