Bottle 1940

Editor: We’re looking at Marie Lutrell's "Bottle," a watercolor and drawing on paper, created in 1940. The muted green and brown tones give it an earthy feel, but the bottle itself looks almost swollen and organic. What do you make of this unusual depiction of such a common object? Curator: It’s interesting how Lutrell presents a utilitarian object as something almost monumental. Consider the context of 1940. We're on the cusp of a world war. There's a certain austerity and focus on the everyday. Do you see how the emphasis on this simple bottle perhaps speaks to a sense of grounding and making do? Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered. The 'CH' inscribed also made me wonder about personal history and domesticity. I was sort of just focusing on her medium as a reference point. Curator: Exactly. Lutrell may be inviting us to contemplate not just the object, but the socio-economic environment and cultural values embedded within such simple objects. It seems to evoke both scarcity and quiet resistance. It’s interesting, though - doesn’t it feel different to view something that might have been functional as somehow…artistic? Editor: It definitely does. Before I'd thought about that functional role of a water bottle, now I feel as though the bottle now embodies art history more generally than if I would have come across one out in the world. It's fascinating to think of it within a larger movement now, the historical impact. Curator: And perhaps how museums and cultural institutions help transform even the most ordinary items into artifacts, charged with symbolic weight and value, that may represent our values. Editor: That's really given me a fresh perspective on how we frame art, even when we are focusing on very specific medium techniques. Curator: Precisely! I think reflecting on that interdisciplinary nature and political impact always opens new doors for discovery and how museums like this can affect meaning itself.