Fireman's Torch c. 1937

Editor: Elmer G. Anderson’s "Fireman’s Torch," dating from around 1937, appears to be a watercolor. It’s so muted, almost monochromatic; I can’t tell if that’s the medium or just the color palette. What do you see in this piece, especially given its creation during the late 1930s? Curator: The '30s were a time of incredible social upheaval and reform in the US. I look at this image and immediately think about infrastructure, about the WPA's focus on public works and their influence on working conditions. But consider what a "fireman's torch" might symbolize then, or even now. Editor: Safety, maybe? Light in darkness? Curator: Absolutely, but go deeper. Who typically held that torch? Whose safety was being prioritized? Consider race, class, gender… the power structures inherent in even the most ostensibly 'neutral' objects. Watercolors, though often seen as delicate, can carry immense political weight, depending on whose hands hold the brush. What choices can we dissect about who has access to safety versus who has to fend for themselves in this period of immense crisis in the USA? Editor: So, viewing the torch as a symbol beyond just its literal function. More about who it served and, maybe more importantly, who it didn't. Curator: Precisely. Art provides us a space to ask those difficult questions, even through a seemingly simple depiction of a "Fireman’s Torch". Looking closer at seemingly simple and mundane scenes offers some rich social commentary if we analyze art history and social activism. Editor: That gives me a lot to consider. Thank you. Curator: My pleasure. Always interrogate the 'why' behind the 'what'.