Snuff Box 1936

Curator: Well, this watercolor piece from 1936 immediately draws me in with its precision. "Snuff Box," as it's titled, by Marie Famularo. What's your initial take on it? Editor: A little muted, wouldn’t you say? I'm immediately thinking about the painstaking handiwork here. You can practically feel the texture of the woven lid in your fingers. The artist's emphasis on texture is very clear. Curator: I see that—the material simulation is really top-notch. Given that it is displayed so plainly here, it’s clear Famularo thought very highly of its construction. Maybe they saw it as a relic or icon to preserve, which they've effectively done. Editor: Possibly. Though I would guess they are also interested in displaying process more generally. It isn’t a single finished snuff box, but the components and different views of a snuffbox. Maybe this has to do with this piece coming out of the 1930s. There's a real interest at the time, by people like Walter Benjamin for example, about making the production process transparent. It resists easy consumption in that way. Curator: I agree, and, considering its medium as a drawing, I think it is designed as a kind of visual instruction too. The image has some clear academic underpinnings as well, with a composition meant to give every feature ample focus, with no distractions. That's perhaps the institutional training rearing its head a little. Editor: Interesting! I wonder then about its display or intended audience. We should note, there's also a tension here, perhaps. The object being depicted is a kind of elite consumer object, for those who would partake of snuff. It is preserved and recorded in watercolor for an imagined user and for an imagined purpose: consumption. But here we are today considering the methods, materiality, and purpose for which this was depicted. It resists the intention to use. Curator: And ultimately takes on a new existence outside its original frame of use, thanks to Famularo’s intervention! Which is really the power of art in reshaping our world, and thinking about our culture differently. Editor: Yes! Something that feels useful for a new exploration outside itself and our daily expectations.