Baby's Shirt c. 1939

Virginia Berge drew "Baby's Shirt" with graphite on paper. The first thing I notice is the crispness of the lines, like a memory carefully retraced. Imagine Berge, perhaps a mother or grandmother, delicately rendering each ruffle and seam. You can see the love and care she must have put into making the real garment. What might she have been thinking about? The softness of the fabric, or maybe the tiny baby who would wear it, swaddled in comfort and love? There's a quiet intimacy here. The shirt isn’t just an object, it's a vessel of tenderness, drawn with a precision that feels both technical and deeply personal. The shirt reminds me of Agnes Martin's spare lines but with a loving, human touch. These artists are using a similar language, but expressing the different feelings that come with being human. It is a lovely conversation across time.