Pestling the Paddy
Medium
Black watercolor on ivory wove paper, laid down on tan wove board
Dimensions
30.8 × 27.6 cm (12 3/16 × 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
ink or chalk wash
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
42737
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Robert Frederick Blum’s “Pestling the Paddy” is an intimate work in black watercolor on ivory wove paper, mounted on tan wove board. Measuring just over 12 by 11 inches, the drawing belongs to the Prints and Drawings collection at the Art Institute of Chicago and is classified as an ink or chalk wash. Its modest scale encourages close looking, inviting visitors to notice the fluid handling of the medium. The wash technique allows for delicate gradations of tone, from deep velvety blacks to soft, translucent grays. Applied directly on paper, it captures subtle shifts in value that suggest volume and atmosphere without relying on line alone. The title hints at a quiet scene of agricultural work, yet the emphasis remains on the expressive possibilities of the medium itself. Acquired for a major public collection, the drawing preserves a moment of artistic experimentation. It demonstrates how a simple palette and restrained support can convey both material presence and poetic suggestion, offering today’s viewers a direct encounter with late-nineteenth-century draftsmanship.
About the Artist
Robert Frederick Blum · 1857–1903
American mural painter. Comment on works: painter