Weather Vane c. 1939

Harriette Gale painted this Weather Vane with watercolor. She was born in 1855, so try to imagine her standing at her easel with her brushes and paints, conjuring this object onto the page. I wonder what it was like for Harriette to create this. Look at how she’s built it up with these little sections, one on top of the other, making this geometric column. And then there's that arm sticking out with the ball at the end. What do you make of that? It reminds me of the old modernist Alexander Archipenko. I like the imperfect geometry and the way she painted it kind of flat, but also with some shading to give it depth. This is how artists see each other’s work, taking and borrowing and re-interpreting. And maybe that’s what art is, just this endless conversation across time. It’s all about exchange, isn't it?