Plate 48: Buckskin Design: From Portfolio "Spanish Colonial Designs of New Mexico" 1935 - 1942

This "Buckskin Design" plate comes from a portfolio of Spanish Colonial designs of New Mexico and was made by an anonymous artist, with what looks like watercolour. What strikes me is the evenness and care, the commitment to a kind of clear rendering. It’s more like looking at a process of design, not trying to be overly expressive, but just even-handed. Look at the way the watercolour sits on the page, in thin washes. There’s a kind of determined approach to keeping the colors separate and distinct, making the forms so clear. The edges are so precisely drawn, they have a sharp graphic sensibility. The palette itself— ochre, pinks, and blues—is quite particular, and speaks to the regionality of the work. It reminds me of the patterns and motifs you might see in a Matisse cut-out, but with the volume turned way down. It opens to a conversation about the transmission of design ideas and cultural specificity. Isn't art just one long game of telephone, after all?