Wooden Doll c. 1940

This is Lionel Ritchey’s Wooden Doll, made with watercolor. It’s a standing figure, a bit rough, but so full of feeling. Look at the way Ritchey handles the texture. The brown and gray watercolor mimics the grain of the wood, but it also looks a bit like skin. The way the color pools in some areas gives the doll a sense of weight and presence. The figure is symmetrical, solid. But where the head joins the body, there's a break in the color, a reddish mark, like a scar or a wound. Is this a representation of the material reality of the wooden form? Or something more symbolic? Ritchey reminds me of Bill Traylor, another artist who knew how to get straight to the point. There’s a directness here, an honesty that bypasses all the usual art world stuff. It’s a conversation, a sharing of something deeply felt, and it’s an open question, an ongoing exchange.