Pa. German Carved Wooden Chicken c. 1937

This is a watercolor of a Pa. German Carved Wooden Chicken, made by Robert Harlow. You can tell it's watercolor from the soft edges and the way the colors blend into each other, kind of like thoughts merging in your head. I find the way the artist uses color to suggest form so interesting. Look at the shades of brown, red, and green, how they create depth and texture. It’s as if the artist is thinking about the chicken as a volume, a three-dimensional object, but also a symbol, something folksy and charming. It reminds me of the way folk artists often simplify forms to their essence. Check out the strokes on the chicken's feathers, they're not overly detailed, but they give you just enough information to understand what you're looking at. It's kind of like how Guston used to draw shoes, totally basic but somehow full of expression. It’s that balance between representation and abstraction that makes this so engaging. Art is just a conversation between artists, across time, each riffing on what came before.