Doll c. 1939

Carmel Wilson made this watercolor painting, Doll, a little before or after the turn of the century. It's pretty small, about 14 inches high. I'm curious about the kind of attention Wilson must have given to the folds and shadows of the doll's pink, white, and red checkered dress. Was she thinking about the materiality of the fabric, how stiff it might have been? Or perhaps, as she painted, the doll's face, with its calm and distant gaze, began to haunt her? It makes me think of those early American portrait painters, like Ammi Phillips, who captured the essence of their sitters with such directness and simplicity. Painting is like a conversation across time. Wilson, through her careful observation and tender rendering, invites us to contemplate the doll as both an object and a symbol, a repository of memories and emotions. The way she captures the light, the texture, and the quiet stillness of the doll is something I, as a painter, deeply appreciate.