Chair c. 1936

Here we see Samuel O. Klein's watercolor rendering of a chair. The ladderback design, familiar from centuries of domestic life, evokes a sense of simple utility and a connection to the past. Chairs, beyond their practical function, are potent symbols. Think of the throne, the papal seat, or even the head of the table. They represent authority, stability, and place within a social order. Klein’s chair, however, feels less about power and more about the everyday. Yet, even in its humbleness, echoes of those grander associations linger. Consider the chair as a motif—found everywhere from Van Gogh’s poignant empty chair paintings, charged with absence and memory, to the decorative arts of ancient Egypt, where chairs signified status and afterlife provisions. This simple object is laden with meaning, carried across cultures, each generation imbuing it with new significance.