Toy Bank 1935 - 1942

This is Kurt Melzer's 'Toy Bank', made with what looks like watercolour, and line drawing. It's like a study for something, but it also exists as its own object. I’m drawn to how the piece combines technical illustration with this kind of free, almost childlike, rendering of the bank itself. You can see the structure, the design, but then there are these daubs of color that feel so intuitive. I like how he’s letting the drawing describe the functional elements, while the painting creates the feeling. The surface is pretty flat, the colors are muted and there’s a real sense of layering, a sense of things being built up over time. Look at the way the red on the roof bleeds into the yellow walls, it's like he's letting the paint do its thing, like he’s not too precious about it. There's something reminiscent of Paul Klee's architectural fantasies, or maybe even some of those outsider artists who create these incredibly detailed, imagined worlds. Art is always a conversation, right?