Pa. German Chest c. 1940

David Dorfman made this drawing of a Pa. German Chest sometime between 1855 and 1995, we don't know when, but it's done with watercolor, graphite, and maybe some colored pencil on paper. The drawing has this folksy quality about it, like a memory trying to come into focus. Dorfman really emphasizes the flatness of the chest. Look at how the surface detail is captured with this kind of gentle, almost hesitant touch. There's a real tenderness in the way he renders the carved details, each flower and inscription given its own little space to breathe. I'm particularly drawn to the inscription on the central panel, surrounded by all those dots. It's like the whole piece is whispering secrets about history, about craft, about memory. It reminds me a little of Marsden Hartley's folk art inspired paintings, in the way it embraces a kind of heartfelt simplicity. Art isn't about perfection, it's about the messy, beautiful, human act of making.