Toy Horse 1935 - 1942

This is Selma Sandler’s “Toy Horse,” of indeterminate date, and it's a watercolor, so it is a process of layering and transparency. You can see the kind of searching and adjustment you get with that medium. The color palette here is interesting. There are a lot of earth tones, umbers and siennas, but then you get that jolt of cadmium red in the saddle. It's like a little firecracker, and you realize the whole image is a balancing act between muted realism and pure, unadulterated play. Look closely at the horse’s legs. See how Sandler hasn't tried to hide the construction, those lines, which divide it into planes, like a cubist painting? Those marks hold the key, because it is not really about the toy horse itself, but the materiality of paint, the gesture of drawing, and the joy of seeing. It reminds me of Elizabeth Murray, with that same push and pull between representation and abstraction, and that willingness to let the seams show. Ultimately, it is a reminder that art is not about answers, but about the questions we ask along the way.