Ornamental Iron Griffon 1935 - 1942

Editor: So here we have Harriette Gale's "Ornamental Iron Griffon," created sometime between 1935 and 1942. It's a drawing, done in coloured pencil, and what really strikes me is the texture she achieves. It really *looks* like aged, patinated metal. What's your take on this piece? Curator: I find it interesting how Gale isolates this detail. She isn't interested in illusion. Look at how the graphite reads as line: an attempt to denote the properties and appearance of forged or cast metals by someone estranged from industry and likely familiar with commodity reproduction only at a remove. Editor: So, you're focusing on how she depicts the material and the production of ironwork at the time? Curator: Exactly. Consider the context. This was during the Depression era, and the Arts and Crafts movement, with its emphasis on handmade objects and the value of labor, was still influential. How does that influence how this sort of commodity product (the iron griffon) enters into an "art" framework? Editor: I guess it’s interesting that she's depicting something that's already a manufactured object. Curator: Yes, the drawing isn’t simply representation; it engages with anxieties about the loss of traditional craft skills through mass manufacturing. Gale memorializes ironwork’s industrial reproduction via hand. This wasn’t fine art, nor illustration, in the strict sense, but almost a material meditation in the aftermath of that cultural shift. Editor: That's a really interesting way to look at it, I was so focused on the look of the final artwork but you're right - we can also focus on production, consumption, and value. Thanks for opening my eyes! Curator: Precisely, and I’m delighted to challenge that aesthetic view with the context that reveals an entire shift in cultural priorities and ways of artistic production!