Silver Tray c. 1936

Curator: Looking at this image, I feel like I've been invited to a very serious tea party. It's elegant but almost austere. Editor: Indeed. This is a graphite drawing on paper titled "Silver Tray," created around 1936 by Michael Fenga. Note the academic style with detailed rendering to convey a sense of realism and the tonal values giving volume to the drawing. Curator: I'm immediately drawn to the way the light seems to reflect off its surface, even though it's just pencil on paper. You can almost feel the chill of the metal, so real that it feels cool. Editor: Precisely. Observe how Fenga employs varying pressure to simulate highlights and shadows. The fluted edge decorated with neoclassical masks offers a rather rhythmic articulation to the otherwise somber form. It reminds one of the decorative arts focus within academic training. Curator: It feels almost melancholic, doesn't it? As if it is meant for a grand banquet but sits quietly alone, a relic of a bygone era. Does that ring true with what's known about the period in which this was made? Editor: Potentially. One could extrapolate themes of economic austerity in 1930s America and the quiet desperation through the symbolism of vacant wealth in this decorative object—emphasized through the precision of its craftsmanship. Curator: Well said. So more than just a picture of a silver tray. Editor: Much more, the formal structure, combined with a stark simplicity in its execution and symbolism. Curator: Makes you ponder what stories such a simple, but elegant object could hold, doesn’t it? Thanks for this considered viewpoint!