Hat c. 1937

Curator: Here we have Lucien Verbeke’s pencil drawing, simply titled “Hat,” created around 1937. What are your immediate impressions? Editor: Elegant and strangely unsettling. The negative space where the face should be gives it an almost ghostly quality. Formally, the varying line weights create depth, while the symmetry offers balance, yet… there’s something missing, wouldn't you agree? Curator: It’s fascinating to consider these drawings in relation to the changing landscape of fashion production in the late 1930s. The rendering suggests a detailed process – someone had to design this hat, someone else made the fabric and ribbons, other sew the embellishments. Each drawing is representative of someone's labour. Editor: Yes, the material execution and process reflect considerable time investment. Note how Verbeke employed a stippling technique to create a tangible sense of the soft materials. And those cascading ribbons... They exemplify meticulous detail in rendering shadow. The texture is beautiful, I am curious to consider its origins... Curator: We know, from studying related documents from that era, that mass production was already emerging within hat-making at that time. Each of these elements required human execution to craft these particular pieces and bring them from vision into a tangible commodity. Editor: It begs the question then: Why this particular configuration with the large absence and what might have been its role within the artist’s oeuvre, or even this specific historical and art-making moment. I also am keen to appreciate his formal style. Is it aligned with prevailing art trends, or does it push against it? Curator: It’s this friction – between artistic vision, labour, and accessibility of fashion—that fascinates me. “Hat” speaks volumes about the industrial and class elements underpinning these luxury items, even at the moment of design. It also offers glimpses into changing methods for artistic rendering given the prevalence of the artistic craft guilds then. Editor: You've illuminated interesting considerations on what might be lurking beneath the surface. Thank you for sharing these thoughts and your insights; the more that I listen, the more curious I am now about its overall visual tension and texture and where those choices led.