Horse on Barrel Bank c. 1938

Here we have William O. Fletcher's ‘Horse on Barrel Bank’ which looks like it was made with watercolors on paper. I can imagine Fletcher carefully layering the washes to build up the dark, glossy sheen of the horse. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? What was he thinking as he painted it? Maybe he was taken by the way light catches on the smooth surface of the toy, or maybe he was just remembering a childhood toy with a sense of nostalgia. There's something about the way the horse is depicted that's really striking. The shadows cast by the horse are so subtle. And that saddle blanket—you can almost feel the velvety texture just by looking at it. It reminds me of the work of other painters who are interested in vernacular objects from the first half of the 20th century, like Joseph Stella. There’s an ongoing conversation between artists and between different art forms. We build on each other’s work, creating a dialogue across time. Isn't that neat?