Highboy 1935 - 1942

Frederick Jackson’s ‘Highboy’ is a study on paper, all sharp lines and quiet intention. It's a drawing about seeing, about figuring out how the thing is built, not just how it looks. The overall effect is sparse, ghostly. The piece feels more like a diagram than a portrait of furniture, which highlights its function. The delicate rendering of the handles and key plates almost feels like jewelry, and contrasts with the crisp lines of the main structure. It makes you wonder: what is the relationship between ornamentation and structure? This drawing reminds me of Agnes Martin's work. Like her, Jackson understood that simplicity could be a kind of doorway, a way into thinking about form and function. Both invite us to slow down, to look closely. Is it a coincidence that both Martin and Jackson were active during periods of intense social and artistic change? Probably. But that’s the kind of thing that art makes you think about.