Marionette (Detail) c. 1937

Here we see Elmer Weise's rendering of a marionette, a puppet brought to life with human ingenuity. The artist coaxes the image into being with simple strokes of brown and black, punctuated by that striking red gash of a mouth. I can imagine Weise studying the object, trying to capture the essence of this character. Is it a portrait of a real puppet? I wonder about the artist's thoughts during the act of painting. Does he feel playful, or is there something more serious at stake? The texture of the face, those grooves on the forehead, have been rendered so attentively. It's not just about appearances but also about how the thing feels, the sensation of wood and string and paint. It's a reminder that artists are always in conversation, borrowing and riffing off one another, making marks in response to what came before. Painting is like that, a give-and-take, always evolving, and never really settling.