Spoon Holder 1935 - 1942

Editor: Here we have Carl Buergerniss’s "Spoon Holder," made with pencil and drawing on paper sometime between 1935 and 1942. It’s incredibly detailed for what appears to be a common household item. What strikes you most about this simple, yet elegant drawing? Curator: What I see is a moment suspended in time, between the wars, capturing the mundane. It is easy to gloss over an object as plain as this, however I ask, how can we, through historical understanding and dialogue, re-evaluate its intersectional importance to art history and modern-day theory, including aspects of race, identity, and gender. Does the spoon holder challenge domestic conventions? Editor: That's fascinating, I wouldn't have thought about its context that deeply. What specific aspects of its form or creation do you see supporting such challenges? Curator: Notice the level of care, time, and consideration that the artist dedicated to rendering a utensil holder. It elevates it from the realm of the everyday, almost mundane, object, shifting it towards a realm of fine art. Consider the societal expectation and confinement of domestic duties. This drawing resists the constraints and limitations. Who determined what is high or low art and whose contributions were valued? How does acknowledging that, reshape how we receive the work? Editor: So you're saying that by meticulously depicting this everyday object, Buergerniss subtly questioned the societal norms of the time regarding the separation of art and domesticity? Curator: Exactly! Furthermore, through that elevation, it demands we acknowledge not only the skill involved in representing it but, that we begin questioning preconceived assumptions around not only fine art but art as a commodity, art as labor, art as commentary, challenging us to analyze through an intersectional and even feminist lens. It can incite social change by changing perspective. Editor: This has really given me a different lens through which to consider not only this artwork, but others in the gallery as well. I hadn’t considered how the choices of subject and medium themselves could be a form of social commentary. Curator: Indeed. Art is never truly created within a vacuum; even this drawing of a humble spoon holder can be an invitation to dialogue and effect a new approach that examines power, cultural identity and intersectionality through fine art.