Cupboard c. 1936

Editor: This is Bernard Gussow's "Cupboard," made around 1936, using watercolor and coloured pencil. There's something so muted and still about it, but I find the shape kind of interesting. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The choice to depict such a mundane object with such care during the Great Depression speaks volumes. Consider the context – a time of widespread poverty, yet Gussow dedicates his artistry to this piece of furniture. This seemingly simple cupboard then becomes a potent symbol. Editor: A symbol of what, exactly? Curator: Perhaps it's about domesticity, a longing for stability and order amidst chaos. Or perhaps it's about honoring the craftsmanship of ordinary objects, imbuing the functional with a sense of dignity and timelessness, celebrating working-class aesthetics when so much else was uncertain. Do you see how the artist's selection process becomes important? Editor: That's interesting. I hadn't thought about it that way, more about just making a faithful rendition. The idea that he might have specifically picked it because of what it means to people living through the Depression… Curator: Precisely. The deliberate, almost reverent, treatment elevates the cupboard from mere object to something embodying the resilience of the human spirit and pointing at social inequities in plain sight. It makes us reconsider what we value. Editor: So, the beauty resides not just in the drawing itself, but in the questions it poses about society. I'll remember to think of things within broader, sometimes uncomfortable, conversations around them. Curator: Exactly! Now we both are appreciating art!