Doll c. 1937

Erwin Stenzel made this doll portrait using watercolors, and it feels like he might have been figuring out what he was doing as he went along. The color palette is really interesting – muted but vibrant. I can imagine Stenzel working on it, tweaking the blues and blacks of the dress, trying to get that tartan just right. And those rosy cheeks! It makes me think about how even in a representational work like this, there’s so much room for invention. The way the light hits the doll’s face, the subtle variations in tone – it’s all Stenzel, putting his own spin on things. Painters are always talking to each other, even across time. Stenzel’s doll reminds me a little of Fairfield Porter, who, like Stenzel, found ways to elevate the everyday through painting. There’s a similar interest in the subtle beauty of ordinary life, transformed through the act of seeing and painting. Painting like this reminds us that there's always something new to discover.