Mechanical Penny Bank: Owl c. 1939

This is a watercolor drawing of a ‘Mechanical Penny Bank: Owl’, by E.J. Gilsleider. It’s undated, but Gilsleider was active from 1855 until 1995, so it comes from that period. The palette here is restrained, mostly earth tones. But the drawing has a directness and simplicity. The artist seems more concerned with getting the basic form down than with elaborate shading or details. You can almost see him figuring things out as he goes along. The physicality of the medium is key. The paint is applied thinly, allowing the texture of the paper to show through. This gives the image a kind of immediacy. The owl is made up of many repeated marks like the crescents forming the feathers, they give a sense of rhythm and movement. And that little branch under the owl’s wing, it looks almost like a signature. This kind of informal, slightly wonky, detail, is very endearing. It brings the whole piece to life. It makes me think of Milton Avery’s paintings, in the way it captures the essence of a subject with just a few, well-placed strokes. It’s a reminder that art isn’t always about perfection, it can also be about embracing the beauty of imperfection.