Hartford Cupboard c. 1936

Martin Partyka made this drawing of a Hartford Cupboard, though we don't know exactly when. The way the artist lays down the colour here is very particular. He’s almost making a map of the tones that could describe this shape, which I guess is what drawing *is*, really. Look how the artist uses dark and light to give the impression of depth. The wood grain seems to have been rendered with a colored pencil and there's a real attention to detail. I love the stylized floral and foliate patterns. The cupboard becomes almost a face staring back at us. I'm reminded of the folk art of Henry Darger. There is something earnest in the hand-made, slightly naive quality of it. Ultimately, Partyka's drawing reminds us that art invites us to see things differently, that fixed meanings are less important than the experience of looking.