Andiron c. 1953

Curator: Looking at this, my first thought is it feels rather lonely, somehow. Isolated. The stark simplicity against the plain backdrop draws all the attention, highlighting its almost classical form. Editor: You're right. And let’s place it: this drawing is by Hans Korsch, and it’s titled "Andiron," created around 1953. The medium used is colored pencil on paper. The date itself places this piece right in the heart of mid-century modernism, doesn't it? Even domestic objects felt the call to a simpler, cleaner design ethos, perhaps an answer to post-war austerity and a yearning for accessible luxury. Curator: Exactly! I find that the very deliberate artistry involved in representing a utilitarian object makes a statement, as well, in this mid-century era. Domesticity and gender norms were being rigorously questioned in art and in lived reality. Where does something like an andiron, used in hearths primarily by women to maintain the home fires, fit within those complex conversations? Editor: Thinking about it as a drawn object and the original use to brace logs in a fireplace is quite thought-provoking, even if this might not be an especially groundbreaking drawing in the grand scheme of things. The colored pencil almost emulates the look of cast metal, it calls to mind industry, process. It also bridges the division between craft and artistic creation; someone meticulously drafted this, turning a manufactured item into something carefully considered and newly valuable as an image. Curator: The shadowing here provides so much depth to an otherwise very flattened picture-space. I mean, it transforms what could be a cold rendering into something imbued with character. Its visual weight gives it presence. This connects to its function and to wider dialogues about material culture and everyday rituals within postwar households. What story might it hold? Editor: I concur, there’s something powerful in viewing the image of a useful object so transformed. And maybe its function IS now as the art! As we reflect on design, intention, materiality, labor… who knows what it means to the home today? Curator: That it should now fire up intellectual curiosity more than any fireplace is wonderfully fitting! Editor: Agreed. It takes us out of a simple utilitarian or decorative view. The object is no longer simply an andiron; it’s a piece that engages questions of purpose and making.