Drugstore 1935 - 1942

Curator: This drawing, titled "Drugstore," dates to between 1935 and 1942. The artist is, unfortunately, unknown. What strikes you immediately about it? Editor: The almost sickly pastel palette, combined with the obsessively rendered details, feels…oppressive. Like stepping into a very elaborate dollhouse haunted by cleanliness and order. Curator: Yes, I think the formal precision contributes to that feeling. Look at the rigid geometry of the shelving, the careful symmetry, even the insistent repetition of objects. But what cultural meanings can we extract? Editor: Well, the clock dead-center immediately signals time, mortality. Above the "Prescription Department" – what is the cultural value being placed on access to health and to self-care at that moment in American history? I would argue the image subtly evokes a specific kind of patient, or social status more broadly. Curator: Absolutely, consider also the neo-classical flourishes. The frieze of figures near the ceiling—cherubic depictions, certainly evoking a time before mass industrial pharmaceutical production. This store presents as something classical and solid. A promise. Editor: It’s all very considered isn't it. Each element is freighted with implication. It begs the question, does all this visual detail reinforce or contradict the promises it makes? Do these delicate perfume bottles stand in direct opposition to the practical functionality of the pharmacy itself? Or are they the apotheosis of it, speaking to the higher goal of 'self-care?' Curator: Fascinating. Thinking about access, though, could the very idealized setting itself— the ornate decoration, the polished glass—be communicating exclusivity? It raises questions of who this establishment served. It is very hard to imagine 'the everyman' walking into that place to seek assistance. Editor: So it's promising a certain vision of health available only to some... and built atop existing notions of the cultural value placed on maintaining not only your well-being, but a certain well-curated public image, at any cost. The cultural meaning and resonance of such an image seems especially crucial today when access to medicine and "health care" has never been so fraught with ethical and socio-economic issues. Curator: Thank you. That’s been truly illuminating to hear your thoughts. Editor: A stimulating exercise; one I would eagerly repeat!