Statuette of a Dog c. 1937

Frank Fumagalli made this statuette of a dog, out of what looks like watercolor, sometime between 1855 and 1995. The way the dog is rendered, with all those little lines and strokes, makes me think about the process of building something up, bit by bit, like a sculptor might. Looking closely, you can see how Fumagalli uses the texture of the paper to his advantage. The paint seems pretty thin, almost transparent in places, which lets the whiteness of the paper shine through. And then there are these tiny, almost frantic lines all over the dog’s body, giving it this lively, almost bristly feel. It’s like Fumagalli is trying to capture not just what the dog looks like, but also its energy, its essence. The dog has this funny little tail like a pig, it's such a sweet little touch. This piece reminds me a bit of Red Grooms, who also had this knack for capturing the playful, slightly off-kilter side of things. Art is like this ongoing conversation, where artists borrow, steal, and riff off each other's ideas, creating something new in the process.