Dolphin Ornament 1938

Editor: This is "Dolphin Ornament," a pencil drawing by Albert Geuppert, made in 1938. I’m struck by the contrast between the meticulously shaded dolphin and the simpler, outlined version below it. It makes me think about process. What draws your eye in this work? Curator: My attention is immediately pulled to the material itself: the humble pencil. Consider what it means to elevate this common tool to capture what was probably intended to become a manufactured object. How does the drawing stand in for bronze, or stone, the materials these ornaments are often fabricated from? Editor: So you’re thinking about how the drawing acts as a sort of blueprint, highlighting the labor behind design? Curator: Precisely. It makes you consider the hierarchy often imposed between the sketch and the finished artwork. We see a raw investigation into form and detail, right here. The repetition, in having both a finished drawing and a less detailed sketch, further underscores the study of form and mass-production of a common image. Editor: That’s a really interesting way of looking at it. It never occurred to me that a drawing of an ornament could be so revealing about production! The context of 1938 is interesting too, the ornament as a mass produced product for home consumption. Curator: Exactly. It encourages us to reflect on the broader social and economic contexts that shaped Geuppert's artistic practice. It blurs the boundaries between art, craft and consumerism. I wonder, where was this ornament likely found, and who would have owned it? Editor: I’ll be thinking about that labor and material process of art very differently from now on. Curator: And I’m considering the audience for design work, and how accessible art could be for everyday consumption during this time.