Holy Water Bucket c. 1936

Curator: Let's discuss Dana Bartlett's "Holy Water Bucket," a watercolor drawing, dating from around 1936. Its gentle handling suggests a thoughtful study of a mundane religious object. Editor: Mundane maybe, but the artist gives this bucket such warmth! I'm drawn to the hammered texture rendered so delicately in watercolor, hinting at the process, the making, even use-marks in its original form, even beyond the religious implication. Curator: Absolutely. The period this was created, during the depression-era, artists found work creating images that valorized american ideals through art like the federal art project. This quiet depiction perhaps echoes the humble faith sought during economic hardship. Religious institutions did a great job for offering places of solace to their communities. Editor: You know, the way Bartlett uses light and shadow almost disguises its materiality; it could be tin, copper, something else entirely, even though copper would have had quite an accessible means of acquisition during the 1930's for domestic purposes. Curator: It makes one ponder the role and symbolism such buckets played within community life and ritual practice as this drawing also seems to offer its social function and artistic value at once. We also see many "plein air" sketches in that time. So what kind of work has an object gone through that has lived outside, like this bucket? Editor: I hadn't even thought of that context; its hammered imperfections reflecting an age that's as hard to read, like looking in to a copper mirror, and I love how this painting, while focused on materiality and practice of labor, gives us both a slice of social history too. Curator: Yes, and through careful rendering in watercolour it opens dialogue. I agree. There's a kind of beauty and contemplation in everyday function through the artist’s historical view. Editor: So much history is wrapped inside the means, making and use, beyond a symbol. An inspiring work!