Pewter Tankard 1935 - 1942

Editor: This is Harry Goodman's "Pewter Tankard," a pencil drawing created between 1935 and 1942. It has this incredible reflective quality for a simple pencil drawing! I'm curious, what layers of interpretation might we uncover when examining an object so seemingly ordinary? Curator: An ordinary object, perhaps, but objects speak volumes. Consider the context: crafted during the interwar period. What might a pewter tankard symbolize during a time of economic depression and looming global conflict? Think about the role of pubs, especially for working-class men. Could this drawing represent a longing for community, for normalcy, or even escape? Editor: So it's less about the tankard itself and more about what it represented socially? Curator: Exactly. We can even explore the visual language Goodman uses. The realism. The painstaking detail. Is this a celebration of craftmanship, a nostalgic look back to simpler times, or perhaps something more critical? Who would have been drinking from a pewter tankard, and whose stories are silenced by its presence in a museum? Editor: That is interesting...the silent stories, and considering what it might represent to different groups of people. This drawing is deceptively loaded. Curator: Indeed. Art invites us to question the narratives embedded within everyday objects, to consider power, identity, and the complex relationship between the individual and society. I hope this helps. Editor: Absolutely! Thinking about objects as a point of access for all of these themes of social history makes me look at this—and all art—so differently. Thanks!