Boston and North Chungahochie Express after 1916

This painting of the Boston and North Chungahochie Express, whose maker is unknown, uses gouache, a kind of opaque watercolor paint. Look at how flat the colors are, how much the artist wants you to know that this is a painting. I love the way the artist has approached the landscape as a series of distinct shapes. The trees, for example, are like rows of lollipops receding into the distance. Then there's the puffy smoke, rendered with a loose, almost nonchalant touch, contrasting with the precise, decorative details of the train itself. The colors are muted, earthy, and the overall effect is dreamlike and slightly surreal. Notice the galloping horse, as it’s not pulling the train, but rather accompanying it. The flatness and simplified forms remind me a little of the work of Henri Rousseau, who, like this artist, was self-taught. In both cases, there’s a similar embrace of naivety, a willingness to depict the world in a way that is both childlike and deeply imaginative.