Nutcracker c. 1937

Frank McEntee made this watercolor of two bird-shaped nutcrackers on paper. Look at these little dudes! McEntee has given us one nutcracker intact, bird-like and brown. The other one looks like an autopsy. This is like the most melancholy buddy movie ever. I imagine McEntee, bending over his table with a brush, giving such care and attention to these metal forms. He might be thinking about use versus ornament, and how the two intertwine in kitsch objects like this. Maybe he felt a closeness to these discarded things. In his meticulous transcription, he elevates these nutty birds to high art. And I guess that’s the question, right? What makes one thing art and another thing not? I think it’s about the seeing, and the care, and the attention. It’s there in McEntee’s brush.