Weather Vane 1935 - 1942

Mildred E. Bent made this piece, titled 'Weather Vane,' using watercolor, and it's just so simple and lovely. The whole thing is rendered in these muted browns, suggesting the wood of the actual weather vane. It's a celebration of both folk art and an everyday object. Look at how Bent handles the watercolor. It's almost like she's carving with the paint, creating these solid forms that still feel light and airy. You can see the paper underneath, a kind of ghostly presence that gives the whole image a delicate, almost translucent quality. The slight variations of tone in the brown make it feel like there is a subtle play of light across the surface of the object, imbuing a humble sculpture with a quiet grandeur. This reminds me of some of the early American modernists, like Charles Sheeler, who found beauty in the simplicity of barns and industrial structures. They too understood that art could be found in the everyday, and that beauty can be uncovered by the close observation of the familiar.