Toy Bank c. 1937

Here's this watercolor painting of a Toy Bank, or rather, an "Organ Bank," by Beverly Chichester. I'm imagining Chichester, poised with her brush, carefully layering washes of earthy browns and muted golds to capture the intricate details of this mechanical bank. She’s working out the puzzle of form. I've been there. The little monkey figure on top—I love the pops of red and yellow, and the way his hand is raised to his helmet. And those tiny dogs on the corners—they seem to be witnesses, like a Greek chorus, to the coin-depositing drama. I keep wondering what Chichester was thinking as she worked. Was she drawn to the object's shape, its cultural associations? Was she thinking about folk art? Maybe she was fascinated by the way light glinted off the metal, or the shadows that defined its contours. It's these kinds of questions that artists ask themselves, and in turn, ask us.