Mechanical Toy c. 1941

This playful watercolor of a clown performing a handstand was made by Isidore Danziger sometime in the 20th century. Its delicate washes of color belie the real subject: a mechanical toy. Note the grid of pale squares, like alignment marks for a machine. Danziger clearly wants us to consider this figure as manufactured. Perhaps he is commenting on the increasing presence of mass-produced goods in everyday life. This was a time when many artists were grappling with the changing landscape of labor and leisure. The rise of industrial production transformed not only the way things were made, but also how people spent their time and money. There is a wistful quality to this painting, which encapsulates these tensions. It reminds us that even the most whimsical of objects can be connected to wider social issues of labor, politics, and consumption. It challenges the boundaries between fine art and the more humble, everyday world of toys.