Tavern Table or Stretcher 1935 - 1942

Curator: This watercolor piece, titled "Tavern Table or Stretcher," was created by Dorothea A. Farrington sometime between 1935 and 1942. It is an understated example of academic style artwork. What are your immediate impressions? Editor: Well, first thought is that if you were designing a secret passage, that drawer looks like it would be the perfect trigger! More seriously, it’s that almost luminous brown. The details really bring it to life... the way the light catches certain edges. You could almost smell the wood. Curator: Dorothea Farrington was active in a time when American art sought to represent vernacular subject matter in a fresh light, a celebration of everyday objects. The academic style and realistic details align with a focus on careful study. How do you view the painting within this context? Editor: In this respect, it feels a bit different; it's almost…austere? And not like church austere, more like puritan, homebody austere. The artist has paid incredible attention to the woodgrain. Do you see what I mean? It's all in that close observation of normal objects, and I think we're meant to see beauty in that too. Curator: It's a piece that encourages contemplation on utility and understated beauty, especially through this realistic study of common materials. It’s hard to be loud when drawing only a table, and that has socio-historical implications as well. The politics of display are at stake. Editor: You know, looking at it now, I keep thinking about the history held within its frame and the silent stories such common objects keep with them! That's quite remarkable, isn't it? I see this table and can’t help but remember all the history, lives, laughter, arguments, that occurred beside such common things. Curator: Agreed. And thinking about all that historical and emotional information, which makes it far more resonant.