Doll c. 1940

Christabel Scrymser’s 'Doll' is an undated watercolour which presents the subject in a surprisingly life-like way, considering it is a toy. Scrymser uses the medium in a way which feels so gentle, so natural. I'm drawn to the dress, the way the blue floral pattern is repeated and how each iteration feels slightly unique; there's a real sense of the handmade here. Look at the thinness of the paint, almost transparent, allowing the paper to breathe beneath. It's like a whisper of color, not a shout. There's an area on the left side of the doll's dress where the blue is more concentrated, the pattern more defined, and this adds depth and shadow to the painting. It makes you wonder about the artist's process. Was it a quick sketch or a carefully considered study? And what does it mean to create a likeness of an inanimate object, giving it a kind of presence? It reminds me a bit of some of the earlier work of Fairfield Porter, that sense of everyday life made magical through paint. Art's like a conversation, always echoing, always changing.