Jointed Wooden Dolls 1935 - 1942

Editor: Here we have Arelia Arbo’s "Jointed Wooden Dolls," a watercolor and drawing piece made sometime between 1935 and 1942. There's a fragility to them, wouldn't you say? A stillness that feels a bit melancholy. How do you read into this work? Curator: Fragility, yes! I feel that acutely. These aren't the cheerful, brightly painted dolls of a child's playroom. They're captured with such delicacy; their forms rendered almost spectral against the paper. It is almost as if Arbo is considering not just the dolls themselves, but memory itself, or perhaps the ghost of play. Look at how translucent she's made those limbs. Do you sense that tension between object and essence? Editor: I see what you mean, there’s a washed-out effect. It makes the dolls almost... ethereal. So, were these kinds of dolls common back then? Did that have any implications for Arbo's creative decisions? Curator: Well, these wooden dolls would have been fairly common playthings. So it begs the question: Why choose them as a subject? Was Arbo perhaps exploring the concept of childhood itself during the tumult of the late '30s and early '40s? The jointed aspect could represent control or the lack thereof; are they dancing to a tune, or are they simply puppets in a larger game? What do you think that might signify? Editor: Hmm... Maybe the uncertainty of the future? Like the dolls don’t know which way to go or who’s pulling the strings. I wouldn't have picked up on all that on my own. Curator: Art is such a wondrous game of connect-the-dots, isn’t it? Hopefully these "dolls" lead you to new curiosities and inspirations!