Side Chair c. 1936

Curator: So, what leaps out at you about this work, Editor? It's a watercolor and pencil drawing on paper by Bernard Gussow, dating from around 1936. He titled it "Side Chair." Editor: Immediately, a sense of calm, Curator. It's so meticulously rendered, it's almost reverential. I feel like it could sit comfortably in a Vermeer interior. There’s a beautiful precision to it. Curator: Precision is an apt term. Gussow’s use of line to define form is exceptionally clear, almost architectural in its exactitude. Consider how the watercolor is employed. See how the artist evokes volume, lending subtle tonal variations to the wooden frame of the chair. Editor: And how the woven seat contrasts texturally with the hard wood. The linear quality, though, feels almost dreamlike. Maybe it's the soft, muted tones, but it gives off a hushed, nostalgic vibe, as if conjured from memory. I imagine myself perched on it on a stifling hot day on the veranda. Curator: Interesting. This "dreamlike" quality you're referring to arises, perhaps, from the stylized rendering of a mundane object, elevating it, via formalism, to something beyond mere representation. Its compositional structure adheres to certain conventional guidelines, yet it maintains a subjective, abstracted representation. Editor: I agree about its abstract qualities. Even though it’s clearly representational, there is something almost spiritual. The symmetry, the balanced lines – it borders on the iconic, doesn’t it? A timeless design reduced to its beautiful essence. Curator: Indeed, this drawing achieves that equilibrium precisely through Gussow's masterful handling of formal elements—his strategic distribution of line, color, and texture all contribute to this artwork's resonance. Editor: For me, its evocative simplicity, coupled with those confident, decisive lines, makes this drawing a treasure. There is much conveyed with only a few strokes, and the mood created really takes the drawing out of pure function to someplace rather ethereal. Curator: I concur that it stands as a testament to Gussow's abilities.