Retablo - San Christopher 1935 - 1942

Majel G. Claflin made this Retablo of San Christopher using watercolor and graphite. The piece strikes us with its overt frontality and the artist's use of bold outlines. San Christopher carrying the Christ child is depicted with remarkable symmetry, flanked by stylized vegetation. Claflin uses color to define space and form, but the interplay of tones destabilizes any sense of naturalism. The saint's ochre skin and mint-green skirt contrast with the child's red robe. There is an almost graphic quality in the way the composition is structured within the red frame, as if echoing the format of early printed images or perhaps even folk art traditions. In viewing this work, we are not merely observing a religious icon but engaging with a reinterpretation of form. It reminds us of the complex interplay between representation, belief, and the artist's subjective vision. It challenges us to find meaning in the tension between what is depicted and how it is depicted.