Doll c. 1938

Verna Tallman’s ‘Doll’ seems to be made with watercolor or gouache, and it has a charmingly direct, folk-art quality. The surface is quite flat, almost like a diagram or a paper doll. And yet, I notice a delicate touch in the way the colors are laid down. Look at how Tallman renders the blue jacket. It’s not just a flat field of color; instead, it’s built up with tiny, almost pointillist touches of blue and white. This gives the jacket a subtle texture, a kind of quiet vibrancy. The doll’s face is particularly striking. It’s a web of delicate gray lines, creating a mask-like effect. I find myself wondering about the doll’s story. Does it have one? Or did Tallman invent it as she went along? I love how this piece leaves so much open. In some ways, it reminds me of the work of Bill Traylor, another self-taught artist who found beauty in the everyday. Art is, after all, a conversation across time, an ongoing experiment with seeing and feeling.