Saddle c. 1937

Frank C. Barks made this watercolour drawing of a saddle; its date is unknown. I love the gentle way Barks teases out the form of the saddle with thin washes, building volume and texture with an almost scientific precision. This is process as slow looking, a method of care. See how the grey of the strap contrasts with the gentle woodgrain of the saddle. The straps themselves loop and curl, creating a subtle tension with the stolid wooden frame, it’s the kind of contrast that gives a work like this its quiet power. The grain is particularly beautiful – almost tactile. The precision in this piece reminds me of the American precisionist painters, like Charles Demuth. But it's tempered with an interest in the vernacular, the everyday object rendered monumental. It’s like Barks is saying: look, there is beauty everywhere, even in the humble saddle.