Stock Lance Knife c. 1936

Editor: Here we have Henry Meyer’s “Stock Lance Knife” from around 1936, done with watercolor and drawing. It’s a very simple composition, but there is a strange, melancholic mood. What strikes you about this work? Curator: Well, consider what a knife like this meant in the 1930s, during the Depression era. Was this a luxury item or something a rancher would carry for practical purposes? Its very ordinariness transforms it into something worthy of attention, reflecting an interest in the everyday lives of ordinary Americans, something that preoccupied many artists working under the Federal Art Project, for instance. Do you think there’s any intentional commentary here about value and utility? Editor: That’s interesting. I hadn't thought about it in terms of the social context. The emphasis on an object that could be easily overlooked seems significant, though. But isn't it strange that the blade seems almost... decorative, the way it is set? It might also be intended for something like opening letters? Curator: That's astute! Thinking about who this knife belonged to – H. Duryee, as inscribed – also steers us to understanding what it represented to the artist, Meyers, perhaps a connection to this person. Art has served to remember and monumentalize not only famous historical figures, but also average, hard-working people. Could we then frame this painting as an almost socialist representation? Editor: That makes perfect sense. The drawing gains significance by transforming into a document of social history. The context makes the art, really. Curator: Precisely. It's in this dance between object, artist, and audience, and history, that it starts to speak to us. We create art but the society consumes it and returns something very different. Editor: Thank you! I'm definitely seeing this work in a completely new light.