A Little Boy Lost 1920

Dorothy Lathrop made this watercolour, *A Little Boy Lost*, using translucent washes of pinks, oranges and purples, which feel both dream-like and slightly unsettling. I imagine Lathrop dabbing at the paper with a fine brush, trying to capture a delicate, wistful mood. The paint is so thin it almost disappears, allowing the figures to emerge ethereally. Look at the way she renders the horses - they're not quite solid, more like apparitions. Maybe she was thinking about Blake and the Pre-Raphaelites? There's a strong sense of narrative. You can almost feel the weight of the pulled chariot, or the anxiety of the boy. It's not just a painting, it's a stage set for a story that is left untold. Painting is like that: a conversation across time, between artists, between the artist and their work, and between us, as viewers, trying to make sense of it all.