Skeleton on Horseback 

Nils Dardel made this painting of skeletons using watercolor. Dardel's choice of watercolor, typically associated with preparatory sketches or amateur art, feels pointed here, given his subject matter. The pale, translucent washes create a sense of fragility, almost as if the skeletal figures could dissolve back into nothingness. But, the way Dardel has built up layers of pigment suggests a slow, deliberate process. The skeletons become more than just symbols of death; they are beings brought into existence through a kind of patient, painstaking labor. There’s a tension here between the lightness of the medium and the gravity of the theme, challenging traditional distinctions between craft and fine art. This invites us to consider the work involved in making art, and the art involved in facing our own mortality.