The File 1938

Editor: We’re looking at Lawrence Beall Smith’s 1938 charcoal drawing, "The File." It’s… unsettling. The man's posture is so hunched over this little box. The lighting and architecture in the background is dramatic but I cannot help but think what's going through his mind? What's he searching for? Curator: The image certainly speaks to anxieties present in the late 1930s. Smith completed it during the Depression era; images of labor, class, and societal pressure were central to the art world. There is such desperation present. Tell me, how does the setting impact your reading of his intentions? Editor: The classical columns in the background contrast so starkly with the man's apparent poverty. He appears in a nice hallway but hunched over like he is scavenging. There's a biting commentary about institutions at play here. Curator: Exactly. Consider how the "New Deal" era public works projects supported artists and sought to address social inequalities. But access and opportunity was a political tool itself, shaping not just artistic production, but public perception, don't you think? Who had access to power? What purpose does public art hold? What’s the symbolism behind hiding a ‘file?' Is he hiding something? Protecting himself from an injustice? Editor: It's as if he's searching for something, within the system, maybe even trying to manipulate it but is shut down due to lack of social mobility or wealth. The very composition boxes him into his own scene, weighed down by records he has limited access to or perhaps even burdened by. Curator: Right! The very act of filing, of categorizing, of deciding what matters – it's an exercise of power, both literally, and figuratively. It certainly opens up my eyes to think of power systems, public and accessible? Hardly. Editor: This work definitely pushed me to consider the unseen struggles and power dynamics within seemingly structured systems. It's more than just a portrait. Curator: Agreed, a striking reflection of societal inequalities visualized. The arts push us to recognize the socio-political pressures we hold in society to this very day.