Grasshopper Weather Vane 1937

Editor: This watercolour drawing from 1937 by Alfred Denghausen is titled "Grasshopper Weather Vane." There’s something so charming and slightly whimsical about it. What catches your eye? How do you read it? Curator: Oh, absolutely charming is the word! I find myself transported to a simpler time, perhaps a New England farmstead. It feels almost like a relic, doesn't it? There’s a straightforwardness in its presentation; Denghausen hasn’t romanticized the object. It's this very realism, in contrast with the fantastical idea of a grasshopper as a weather indicator, that tickles my imagination. Does it strike you as a portrait, perhaps? Editor: A portrait… I hadn’t thought of it that way! It does have a certain…dignity, I suppose? More than your average illustration. Why choose a weather vane as a subject, do you think? Curator: Ah, now you’re asking the million-dollar question. The weather vane itself speaks of navigation, of direction – a metaphor, perhaps, for life’s own shifting winds? Or maybe, on a less lofty level, Denghausen just appreciated the beauty of craftsmanship, the hand-hewn quality of this unusual object. Tell me, what sort of weather do you imagine this grasshopper predicting? Editor: (chuckles) Hopefully good weather! This drawing does make me consider the art in everyday objects, how even the most practical items can have their own story. Curator: Exactly! It’s a reminder that art isn’t just confined to museums or grand canvases. It exists in the ingenuity and quiet beauty of everyday life if you know where to look!