Doll 1935 - 1942

Florence Milto made this watercolor study of a doll, maybe, sometime in the twentieth century. Looking at the cross-hatching in the dolls’ dresses, I imagine her making this painting, getting lost in the rhythm of those lines, following the curves and folds of the fabric. You can see the care and attention she gives to the details, and it makes you wonder about her relationship to this doll, or maybe dolls in general. The pale pinks and blues create a soft, almost dreamlike quality, but the texture is kind of rough and irregular. The lines vibrate. It’s like she's not just showing us the doll, but also trying to capture something about its presence. Painters are always learning from each other, trying to understand how to see and how to show what they see. They make marks and gestures, again and again, as an act of love, an act of observation, an act of trying to figure something out. Painting becomes a site of inquiry and exchange.