Bake Room Table c. 1936

Alfred H. Smith made this drawing of a Bake Room Table, though we don't know exactly when or with what. I imagine the artist capturing not just the form but the feeling of home, of warmth. It’s like he’s looking for the soul of the table. The subtle gradations in tone—the way light catches the wood—speak to the artist’s attention to the object’s materiality. Look at how he renders the shadows, suggesting weight and volume. Smith's approach reminds me of Fairfield Porter, who painted domestic interiors, making them into a place of inquiry and exchange. It makes me think about the everyday—the familiar becoming unfamiliar through the act of looking and painting. Painting is just a conversation, you know? Artists responding to one another across time, each brushstroke a form of call and response.