Wooden Eagle c. 1939

This ‘Wooden Eagle’ was made by Henry Murphy, though we don’t know when, and painted on paper. I’m struck by the limited palette; Murphy creates an image in varied tones of brown, like different flavors of coffee. The artist’s material choices speak volumes. The paint application looks relatively flat, which lends a graphic quality to the image, but the shading gives the eagle its form. Look closely at the wings – you can see each individual feather created by a simple flick of the wrist. I love the way that the artist lets the paint run and pool in certain areas, creating a subtle sense of depth and texture. What’s great about this work is how it encourages us to consider the relationship between representation and abstraction, between the real and the imagined. Murphy’s eagle brings to mind the work of self-taught artists like Bill Traylor, who used simple forms and colors to create powerful images of the world around him. Like Traylor, Murphy’s ‘Wooden Eagle’ reminds us that art is not about perfection, but about expression, about the power of the human hand to transform the ordinary into something extraordinary.