Wardrobe c. 1937

Editor: Here we have George Fairbanks's "Wardrobe" from around 1937, a drawing made with pencil and watercolor on paper. I’m immediately struck by the intensity of the red – it's not a color you often see used for furniture, is it? What can you tell me about it? Curator: The intense red definitely stands out! It's important to consider the social context of the 1930s. While realism grounds the depiction, this particular rendering offers a challenge to the conventions of domestic space and how class is performed. Does the choice of such a striking colour express, perhaps, a rebellion against more traditional expectations tied to furniture of the era? Editor: So it’s less about just depicting a wardrobe, and more about making a statement about societal expectations through something so mundane? Curator: Precisely. Think about what wardrobes symbolize: storage, privacy, personal belongings. By presenting this seemingly ordinary object in an unconventional colour and through drawing, Fairbanks is provoking us to question not just the aesthetics of the time, but also the unspoken rules governing personal expression. Where and how would one have gotten that material or created that look at the time? Editor: I see what you mean. The red kind of makes it seem almost… rebellious? The way you describe it helps reframe something that, at first glance, appears quite ordinary into a piece loaded with commentary. Curator: Exactly! And thinking about the process too—the "underpainting" and the choice of media, the labour, tells its own story, no? So what seems to be a simple realistic depiction carries, through its choices of colour and artistic approach, much deeper layers of cultural and personal meaning. It’s really rewarding to unlock them. Editor: I'm walking away looking at wardrobes, and colours, completely differently! Thanks so much.