Side Chair c. 1936

Curator: My initial impression? There's a quiet dignity to it, almost austere, despite the ornamentation. Editor: Well, let's give some context. What we have here is a watercolor and drawing called "Side Chair" from around 1936 by Lawrence Phillips. The crisp lines of the drawing contrast beautifully with the gentle wash of color in the watercolor, don't you think? Curator: Absolutely, it is like the blueprint of a memory. That subdued palette and those carefully rendered details really do make the piece hum. This chair style reminds me so much of a neoclassical revival – think back to empire and directoire periods, the visual codes feel connected to eras obsessed with idealized form and civic virtue, which gives it the austere, but almost dignified mood I mentioned. Editor: Neoclassical with, maybe, a whisper of Art Deco elegance creeping in? All those vertical lines. And you know what it makes me think of? Waiting rooms. Curator: Waiting rooms? I can see that, places where one adopts formal postures as they wait. Given that waiting is a culturally loaded act, it’s like that chair would become the stage for a very intimate and emotionally fraught play… Editor: Precisely! A space of anticipation, sometimes anxiety, where posture becomes almost performative. The visual is calm on the surface, and fraught beneath. Also the idea of making such an intensely beautiful watercolor and drawing about something very utilitarian as a chair somehow tickles me. Curator: A potent tension! Phillips uses this to weave mundane, culturally charged narratives. It reminds us that everyday objects can hold such rich, encoded meanings. A very poignant commentary. Editor: Poignant is the word. Something so simple, made complex. Makes you wonder about all the stories a single chair could tell. Curator: Precisely. Objects quietly witness eras, embodying all associated cultural shifts, but as with this, a shift in perspective also helps the quietest stories reveal themsleves. Editor: So true! Well, I think I'll look at chairs differently from now on!