Globe still bank c. mid 20th century

This painted globe bank, made by the Ohio Art Co., has this great naive quality to it; it’s so charming! I think about the person painting it, and the way that the blue, pink, and yellow swaths of color must have felt in their hand. What it must have been like to hold the world in your hands like that, marking out countries and oceans with such a simple, bold palette? I'm also curious about the way the artist or designer embraced the inherent abstraction of maps. All of the familiar shapes and forms are there, but abstracted and simplified in a way that reminds me of outsider art. It’s a translation of the world into a flattened, symbolic form. I love the way they aren't trying to trick you, but instead, reveal the artifice and the imaginative labor of the work. In the end, this painted bank celebrates the beauty and wonder of our planet!