Whipping Post 1935 - 1942

Editor: This is "Whipping Post," a watercolor drawing made by Edward Loper between 1935 and 1942. It depicts what looks like a miniature model of a whipping post, complete with figures. It's such a strange piece. What's your take on it? Curator: The immediate formal element that strikes the eye is the rigid geometric composition. We see a deliberate verticality countered by horizontal planes—the base, the platform of the whipping post, the stocks themselves. Editor: Yes, there's a definite sense of order. Is the color significant? Curator: The muted palette, predominantly browns and greens, alongside the figures’ somber clothing, contributes to a sense of gravity, doesn’t it? Also consider the spatial relationship. Figures surround the post. We observe the positioning and posture of these individuals in relation to the central apparatus. How does that interplay, that staging, contribute to the reading? Editor: I guess it brings a sense of theatrics, maybe? Almost as if this is a play being performed. Curator: Precisely. But is it simply about documentation? Let us focus, then, on what that structure performs as an object, and in relation to the viewer. What hierarchies are revealed? Editor: I see. The composition directs our gaze toward this instrument of punishment. Is it drawing a distinction between power and subjugation? The very medium—watercolor—softens the grim subject matter and underscores the injustice it represents, yes? Curator: Indeed. The very deliberate arrangement, with the stark, upright structure contrasting against the bending of the bodies caught within it, lends symbolic depth. The artist has considered it all, so we can, too. Editor: This definitely opens my eyes to new dimensions and complexities I had missed upon the first look. Thanks.