-Reindeer c. 1910 - 1935

This cast iron Reindeer was made by the A.C. Williams Company. It’s not a painting, but the way the light falls on it makes it feel like one. See how the color shifts from a deep, almost black umber on the head and neck, to a golden brown on the body and legs. It’s the kind of color transition you find in the landscapes of Albert Bierstadt, a total melting of light and shadow. The sculpture is incredibly smooth, but in places you can see where the cast iron has slightly pitted or corroded, a reminder of the process that made the sculpture. I can’t help but think of Marsden Hartley, another master of dark and light, who once said that art should be about the “raw, virile, and crude.” This small sculpture strikes me in the same way, with its stoic pose and naturalistic coloring, a powerful form emerges.