Scarf 1935 - 1942

Editor: This is "Scarf," made by Sylvia Dezon sometime between 1935 and 1942. It’s a drawing on paper, combining graphite and what looks like watercolor, possibly a linocut print as well. It’s incredibly detailed! It looks almost like a photograph, yet soft and delicate. What strikes you when you see this work? Curator: The immediate sensation is quietude. It whispers rather than shouts. What at first seems like simple representation of lace resolves into something more complicated. There is a gentle dance between representation and abstraction happening here, isn’t there? Notice how the tight rendering loosens as it moves towards the scalloped edges, melting into something altogether more dreamlike. Editor: It's true! The level of detail at the center contrasted with the fading edges is intriguing. Was decorative art like this a common pursuit during that time period? Curator: Very much so. There was a huge resurgence of interest in craft and domestic arts, spurred on both by the Arts and Crafts movement and, ironically, by industrialization which made the creation of handcrafted objects a potent form of individual expression. What does this kind of intimate, hand-wrought detail suggest to you? Editor: It speaks to the time and effort involved, a quiet rebellion against mass production, perhaps? A celebration of the personal? Curator: Precisely! And doesn’t it also suggest a kind of quiet contemplation on the part of the artist, an attempt to capture a fragile beauty in a turbulent world? Maybe even, dare I suggest, a little bit of magic woven into each tiny, painstaking stroke. Editor: That's beautifully put. I see so much more in this than just a drawing of a scarf now. It’s a whole world contained within that little diamond shape. Curator: And isn’t that what the best art always does? Opens our eyes to new perspectives and deeper meanings?