Mug 1935 - 1942

Curator: I find this graphite and paper drawing by Philip Johnson intriguing. The artwork, entitled "Mug," is dated sometime between 1935 and 1942. What strikes you first? Editor: Well, the immediate impression is its delicate, almost ghostly quality. The line work is so fine, giving a sense of fragility despite the mug's substantial form. Curator: Exactly. Notice how Johnson employs a simple line style to delineate the object, emphasizing its geometric form. The series of horizontal lines encircling the mug create a rhythm that is both structured and surprisingly dynamic. Editor: Those lines give it such personality. To me, the mug reads as a symbol of domesticity and tradition. The shape with its handle and the lid recall ceremonial vessels that suggest the idea of sharing and hospitality across generations. Curator: That’s a compelling reading, and I see how you get there. Formally, though, the linear structure seems to push beyond pure representation. Johnson transforms a commonplace object into something with an almost abstract elegance. The addition of the quick sketch to the upper right really adds an almost diagrammatic element too. Editor: Right, the smaller drawing adds another layer of symbolic depth, maybe a blueprint that reveals deeper symbolic structure, an underlying desire for something comforting but refined, something permanent? I think the golden fading across the very top hints at lost ideals and values, somehow. Curator: Hmm. I can see how it conveys loss and time—to me the aging is just an imperfection of materials that nevertheless contrasts strikingly with the precision of the draftsmanship, intensifying that play of lines and shapes in the image itself. Editor: Yes, together these aspects give the vessel—and Johnson's visual representation of it—a powerful presence beyond its utilitarian function, really drawing our attention across eras of tradition. Curator: It is a powerful demonstration of the lasting resonance found in the interplay between the abstract and the everyday. Editor: Definitely. Now I won’t look at my own coffee mug in the same way!