Home Savings bank c. 1940

William O. Fletcher made this image of a ‘Home Savings Bank’ out of what looks like watercolor or gouache. The image has a real sense of care to it, the kind of attention usually reserved for memories, not things. Look at the way that Fletcher has rendered the surface of the bank. The mark making is so neat and precise, and the tones so consistent, it’s as though he is trying to pin down the very essence of ‘bank-ness’. There's a real warmth to the ochre and gold touches, but then there is an undeniable austerity to the overall palette. These dull, dark colors lend the bank a feeling of established solidity, of an institution you can rely on. There’s a real parallel with the work of Charles Sheeler, with the way he would paint industrial buildings and factories. And yet, Fletcher has chosen not to paint a monumental industrial structure, but a child’s money box! Both artists seem to have a similar faith in the beauty of simple forms. And isn’t that what art is all about, finding beauty in the unexpected?