Gate-legged Table c. 1937

This undated drawing of a Gate-legged Table was made by B. Holst-Grubbe, who lived to be 100! It’s all lines, this piece, a process of reduction and clarity. The drawing describes an object of utility, a table, but really, it's all about the expression of measurement. Look at the way the lines are laid down, so precise and clean. There's something beautiful in that dedication to accuracy. The texture of the paper, visible beneath the lines, adds a human touch to this technical drawing, and I imagine the artist bent over the surface with ink and a very fine nib. There's a strange poetry in these kinds of instructional drawings. Like Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings, this piece reminds us that art can be about instructions, concepts, and the beauty of process itself. The piece resonates with the Shaker designs, which are very simple, and very practical, but also strangely beautiful. In art, just like with this table, there's always room for ambiguity and multiple uses, whether practical or interpretative.