Cigar Store Figure: Punch c. 1939

Elmer R. Kottcamp made this watercolor, Cigar Store Figure: Punch, and look how carefully he’s built up his image. The paint is laid down in these delicate, watery washes, a real contrast to the object it represents! This isn't just a flat image, it's a translation. Kottcamp is trying to capture something three-dimensional with these careful, almost timid strokes. The green and red are so vibrant, but the application is restrained, giving it a ghostly quality. It makes you wonder about the original object. That gesture of the hand is so telling. Is Punch offering us something? Or is he just pointing out the obvious, the cigar store, the cigars? The way Kottcamp renders the wood grain of the base is beautiful, almost like a miniature abstract painting in itself. It reminds me a little of some of the American Precisionists, like Charles Demuth, maybe. The conversation continues.