$1 Banknote from Virginia c. 1936

Carl Buergerniss made this watercolor painting of a one dollar bill and civil war era tag, sometime in the first half of the 20th century, and what jumps out is its quiet, tender quality. The colours are muted, almost ghostly, evoking memory more than solid fact. Look closely, and you can see the handmade quality in every line. The paper is stained, and the red ink of the civil war tag bleeds softly into its edges, giving it an intimate feel. These aren't crisp, precise lines, but the kind you get when an artist is feeling their way through a subject. It’s this imperfection, this willingness to let the medium speak, that invites us in. The red writing and numbers on the tag underneath feel so fragile. The artist is letting the image slowly appear, as if conjuring an apparition. Like Marsden Hartley or Florine Stettheimer, Buergerniss takes on a seemingly straightforward subject, but transforms it into a portal for reflection.