Candlestick c. 1942

Curator: Here we have Selma Sandler's "Candlestick," a watercolor drawing likely created around 1942. The piece features a single candlestick, rendered with intricate detail. What strikes you immediately about this work? Editor: Well, the contrast, undeniably. The base flares out like talons—ominous, somehow. But then the black and yellow of the central sphere hints at containment, fragility even. A beautiful sense of darkness, interrupted. Curator: It is striking, isn't it? Considering the period, the Second World War, one might see this as a potent symbol. A beacon, a small light of domesticity, even hope, threatened by encroaching darkness. These objects often represented safety and normalcy within Jewish homes, during times when that feeling of comfort was scarce. Editor: Yes, and look at how carefully she constructs form through shadow and light, a semiotic dance around surface textures. I mean, observe the matte quality of the base, the sheen of the black glaze higher up, rendered seamlessly in watercolour! The choice to foreground textural elements adds to its presence and demands our attention. Curator: Sandler's works frequently engages with the tensions between domestic life, Jewish identity and the immense pressure of a world at war. These were the stories of everyday heroism and private acts of resistance to cultural erasure, through representation of items or interiors of great personal value. Editor: The upward movement is vital, though! The dark body meets an elaborate frill that pushes into the textured cup that would eventually hold light! It is like a sculptural poem—tension, elegance and dark intrigue at its heart. A beautiful composition! Curator: Exactly. A simple, everyday object becomes a vessel for expressing profound feelings about precarity and resilience. The candlestick becomes more than what it seems—an artefact bearing the emotional weight of those tumultuous times. Editor: Indeed, seen this way, its meticulous details speaks to much wider structures of feeling and lived experience of persecution, offering new ways of reading beyond immediate form, toward critical engagement with cultural meanings and layered visual narratives! Curator: It is a powerful example of how an everyday object becomes charged with symbolism and layered meanings. Sandler captures an essence, translating material existence to commentary, a vital window into a troubled history. Editor: It makes me think, too, about how such intimate art offers potential openings through its very composition and texture for collective reflection. The darkness, the implied light and texture –it is not merely a Candlestick; rather a rich tableau waiting to spark further conversations.