Melodeon c. 1936

Rex F. Bush, born in 1855, made this image of a melodeon at some point in his life, using what looks like watercolour and ink. You can see the hand of the artist clearly at work. The way the wood grain is depicted, in thin strokes of brown and red, gives a sense of the physical presence of the object, but there's also something dreamy about it, like a memory. I keep thinking about the legs of the piano, how they are slightly wonky and asymmetrical, which gives the whole thing a kind of charming, homespun feel. The flatness of the picture plane, combined with the detailed rendering of the object, reminds me a little bit of early American folk art, like the work of Edward Hicks. But Bush brings a more personal touch to his work. It’s like he's not just showing us the melodeon, but also sharing a bit of himself in the process.