Desk Bell from Fire Department c. 1939

Al Curry’s ‘Desk Bell from Fire Department’ is a painted object – meticulously rendered with watercolor. Look at the way the brown hues shift and deepen across the woodgrain – the artist is gently coaxing the structure of the bell into being. I bet Al really labored over the small details, like the round medallion and the delicate foliate carving on top. You can almost feel Al’s hand moving across the paper, as if he were stroking the original desk bell, patiently recreating the object. I wonder if Al was a firefighter, or knew one? Maybe this was a portrait of a friend’s beloved object. In a way, it doesn’t matter – here, the act of painting becomes a loving act of preservation.