Shelf Clock c. 1939

Editor: This watercolor and drawing, created around 1939 by Frank Wenger, is titled "Shelf Clock". It feels like such a tangible, solid object depicted in such a light, airy medium. How do you approach a piece like this? Curator: I'm immediately drawn to the materiality of the clock itself. Think about the wood, presumably sourced and crafted. Then consider the watercolor, a manufactured substance, used to represent it. The contrast highlights the layers of production inherent in the object itself. Do you think Wenger was perhaps commenting on the industrialization of time and its keepers, these manufactured "antique" clocks? Editor: That's a fascinating thought! It's easy to miss that commentary. So, is the very act of painting this mass-produced clock almost…complicit in the consumption cycle? Curator: Precisely! And look closely. Wenger wasn’t just interested in representing the final product. The illustration reveals construction, carving, wood grain – the evidence of labor is everywhere. What's your impression of this "realism," since you noted the style in the beginning? Is it about capturing surface appearances, or does it suggest more? Editor: I initially thought it was about the external, visual likeness. But now I see how much emphasis is on texture and even a certain three-dimensionality. There's this implied history within the artwork. Curator: Exactly. Wenger, through his materials and painstaking technique, prompts us to reconsider the clock, not just as a time-keeping device or an object of nostalgia, but as an object with embedded layers of making, ownership, and, ultimately, consumption. Editor: I’m rethinking how much these material choices amplify its social significance beyond just being an illustration. Curator: And that interplay between the ‘high’ art of watercolour painting and the ‘low’ craft object – the clock – challenges our established hierarchies of value and labor.