Doll's Bed c. 1937

Curator: Immediately, this drawing evokes a sense of quiet nostalgia. It’s very delicate. Editor: Indeed. Here we have Max Fernekes’ "Doll's Bed," a watercolor and pencil drawing made around 1937. It presents a detailed and realistic portrayal of just that, a doll's bed. Curator: I'm curious about what the bed frame might signify. Is this merely a child's plaything? Editor: On the surface, it appears that way. But a bed, even in miniature, is often a symbol of domesticity, dreams, vulnerability... Curator: Right. It suggests narratives around gender, care, and social expectation of women as care-givers. Dolls are often tools to imprint values and expected roles. Editor: We see an empty bed, though. No doll is present. This could point towards feelings of abandonment, absence, or the anticipation of presence. Curator: Also, note the roped platform which would provide a base for the mattress; a kind of structural underpinning here depicted very transparently. It reminds me of discussions around invisible labor – the labouring classes whose literal work enables the lifestyles of wealthier families. Even if the doll is from such a family, the very structural 'underpinning' could indicate what exactly enables their lifestyle to be realized. Editor: That's insightful. Rope also represents a connection, even bondage in symbolic language, doesn't it? Curator: It does, certainly in connection with other possible readings of this drawing. Fernekes created this drawing amidst the social turmoil of the Depression. We have to see how art making operated then in this wider frame, rather than focusing too much on sentiment. Editor: That’s given me a new way to consider the drawing. Perhaps "Doll's Bed" prompts more unsettling reflections on the construction of identities, or simply invites our own memories to be conjured by this object. Curator: Agreed. We've hopefully shown how everyday imagery in art, even an image of a doll’s bed, may illuminate something further if interrogated by its possible historical and socio-cultural layers.