Corn Husk Doll on Horse 1935 - 1942

Wilbur M Rice made this 'Corn Husk Doll on Horse' with graphite and colored pencil on paper. Looking at this, I’m struck by the delicate mark-making, a kind of hushed intimacy. The horse and rider are rendered with such precise lines, like tiny stitches, but they make up something whimsical. The texture is everything here. The way Rice captures the coarse feel of corn husks, you can almost feel it. The husks are the form, and the form, well, it's lumpy and bumpy, like the real thing. What catches my eye is the horse's mane, these thin, wispy lines that give the creature life. The drawing is almost a meditation on materials. There’s a kinship here with the obsessive mark-making of someone like Agnes Martin. Both show us that art isn't just about what you depict, but how you depict it. It’s a conversation across time, a way of seeing the world anew, and that’s something to celebrate.