Powder Horn c. 1936

Samuel O. Klein gave us this rendering of a powder horn with pencil and watercolor, an object that perhaps played a role in warfare. I can imagine Klein hunched over his drawing, trying to get the light just right on the brass top, layering the graphite to give it a metallic gleam. The paper is allowed to breathe in this painting. It's not overworked, and it gives you this great sense of the object, like it’s floating in the air. It is a beautifully rendered drawing. He uses the watercolor in such a delicate way, almost like a whisper. The eagle on the horn has got this stern look about it, like, "I've seen things, man." What was Klein thinking as he worked? Was he envisioning the object in use or seeing the object as a sculptural artifact? Maybe he had memories of the past in mind when he made this painting. Painters are always borrowing and riffing off each other through time, and Klein is no exception. It's like a never-ending conversation. And with painting, there's always room for uncertainty and ambiguity, which is where the magic happens.