Gate and Gatepost c. 1940

Editor: Here we have Jerome Hoxie's "Gate and Gatepost," likely from around 1940, a drawing done in pencil on paper. The subject seems so straightforward, yet there is a formal quality that gives the drawing such a sense of balance. What do you make of it? Curator: This image invites us to consider boundaries, doesn't it? What do gates symbolize to you? They are physical barriers, yes, but what else? Editor: Well, they’re about entrance and exclusion...access, and who gets it. Curator: Precisely! And think about the details. The finials on the gate and post—do they remind you of anything? They evoke stylized fleur-de-lis, ancient symbols of royalty and, later, religious figures. In Hoxie’s time, they could evoke ideas about class, and what spaces and ideas certain people could access. Do you see this tension between the everyday object and its layered meanings? Editor: I do, especially knowing the date, right before the war. Did that change the interpretation people might have had? Curator: Absolutely! The imagery of barriers, access, privilege... these would have been potent themes as global conflicts escalated and questions of identity and belonging were brought to the fore. Visual symbols take on a renewed urgency, reflecting and shaping collective anxieties. Editor: That's a whole new perspective! I'm going to look at gates differently from now on. Curator: It makes you wonder, what will people see in this image 50 years from now?