Doll c. 1938

Eugene Croe made this image of a doll with watercolor. Look at how he builds up the darks in the dress with lots of little strokes. It’s like he’s feeling his way into the form, not trying to nail it all at once, but letting it emerge bit by bit. The physical qualities of the paint are interesting here. You can see the way the watercolor settles into the paper, how it stains and bleeds a little. It gives the whole thing a kind of ghostly presence, like it’s not quite there, but definitely present. Look closely at the doll’s face—see how the light hits the cheek? There's a real tenderness in the way he renders it. Croe reminds me a little of Bill Traylor, in the way he’s working from memory or imagination, not worrying too much about getting it “right,” but just letting the image come through him. It's like glimpsing a conversation happening across time about how we turn something real into art.