Well in the Sands, Tangier 1913

James McBey’s watercolor, "Well in the Sands, Tangier," captures a scene in 1913, highlighting the communal importance of water. Here, the well becomes a focal point, a meeting place represented across cultures from ancient Egyptian paintings, where wells symbolized life, to Renaissance depictions of Rebecca at the well. The well is a potent symbol of sustenance, community, and even revelation. Consider its presence in biblical stories, where wells are sites of crucial encounters and divine interventions. This symbol speaks to the collective unconscious, evoking a sense of shared human experience. In McBey’s rendering, the well is not merely a source of water but a locus of human interaction. This scene evokes a feeling of timelessness, echoing the cyclical nature of human needs and social rituals, constantly resurfacing and evolving in new contexts.