Corner Cupboard c. 1939

Editor: Here we have Leslie Macklem's "Corner Cupboard," likely dating to around 1939, rendered in pencil and drawing on paper. It feels very precise and homey, somehow, yet a little melancholic given the era it comes from. What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: You know, I’m drawn in by the… humility of it. A cupboard, rendered with such care. There's an intimacy, isn't there? Imagine Macklem, focused, coaxing the grain of the wood out of pencil strokes. I wonder what they thought about while drawing this; Did they smell the wood? Did they hear sounds in the kitchen as this kind of corner cupboard, so prominent in its quiet service to a room, just was a solid comfort for whoever occupied its house? Editor: That's beautiful, framing it as intimate observation and care. So much work to notice, describe and recreate this familiar furniture with the medium. Do you think this cupboard represented a memory, or perhaps even a yearning for domestic stability during the pre-war period? Curator: That’s certainly possible; furniture pieces held an entirely different position and symbolism at the time, imbued by necessity and meaning far beyond contemporary conceptions of utility, obsolescence and dispensability. To spend that much time with this corner cupboard implies reverence, almost. The opening cupboard, just slightly ajar, inviting you to peer inside. What secrets does it hold, and is it inviting you inside, or beckoning a departure of all of your precious personal items from the room? And what did you notice when we first considered it? What struck *you* about it when we first set eyes on it? Editor: The craftsmanship is striking. Also, your perspective made me consider that an object as familiar as this could be the source of so much artistic investigation! Curator: Precisely! Never underestimate the power of the everyday, right? There is infinite value there.