Quaker Doll 1935 - 1942

Jacob Gielens made this drawing of a Quaker Doll with what looks like watercolor and pencil, though we don’t know when. What strikes me is how he handled the color. It’s like he mixed all the paints with a little bit of gray, giving everything this muted, almost ghostly quality. It’s subtle, but so effective. It’s a reminder that art-making is as much about choices as it is about skill. Look at the way the shawl drapes – there’s such a carefulness in the rendering of the folds, but at the same time it feels so light. And those tiny, precise lines describing the fringe, it’s a marvel! It reminds me a little of the work of Charles Burchfield in the way it manages to capture the spirit of the subject through close observation and humble materials. It shows that art doesn’t always need to shout to be heard. Sometimes, it whispers.