Wagon Jack c. 1939

Mary Hansen’s “Wagon Jack” is a drawing of, well, a wagon jack. It's rendered in a muted palette and what looks like graphite, capturing the wear and tear of the tool. There’s something about the texture that really grabs me. It's like Hansen’s hands are right there, feeling the grooves and imperfections of the wood. She translates these textures into her rendering, with each line and shading marking out form and character. Look at the area where the arm of the jack meets the vertical post. The way the light catches the wood, and the soft shadows that define the form, it gives the sense of age and use. You get to feel the weight of the object. Hansen's work reminds me of Charles Sheeler, who also had a fascination with industrial objects. But unlike Sheeler’s sharp, almost clinical precision, Hansen brings a warmth and intimacy to her work. It's a reminder that even the most ordinary objects can be a source of beauty and wonder, and that art is an ongoing conversation across time, constantly reinterpreting and reimagining the world around us.