Side Saddle - California Syle c. 1937

Editor: This is Harry Mann Waddell’s "Side Saddle - California Style" from around 1937, a drawing using colored pencils and watercolor. It’s surprisingly delicate for a piece depicting something so rugged. What's your take? Curator: Delicate indeed! The floral pattern almost softens the industrial form, like finding wildflowers growing out of machinery. There’s a strange beauty there, a tension between practicality and decoration. Do you notice how precisely he renders the textures? It’s as though he's cataloging every stitch, every curve. Editor: I see what you mean. It’s like he’s both documenting it and also…idealizing it? The flowers definitely weren’t on every saddle! Curator: Exactly! It reflects the romanticized vision of the American West popular in that era, right? Artists, authors, filmmakers… they all helped build the myth. This saddle, so meticulously rendered, becomes part of that fantasy. Did California saddles really look like this? Editor: Probably not all of them! This makes me think about how much of our vision of history comes from constructed images. I initially just saw a pretty saddle. Curator: And isn't that the best kind of art? The art that makes you reconsider a single object and its impact on our society. The West's romantic view becomes a challenge on its traditional conventions! Editor: I guess so! This was super interesting and useful! Curator: The pleasure was all mine! It's been such a colorful insight!