Shacks by the Road c. 1935 - 1943

Curator: "Shacks by the Road," an etching by Samuel L. Margolies, made sometime between 1935 and 1943. What strikes you first? Editor: The stark contrast. It's bleak, a real sense of struggle comes through. The texture is almost gritty, like you could feel the dust just by looking at it. Curator: Yes, it's very immediate. Margolies wasn’t just depicting poverty; he was deeply affected by it, wouldn’t you say? It speaks to a profound sense of place, a harsh one. Editor: I think the choice of etching emphasizes that hardship. The marks are direct, laborious. You can see the process. And notice how the buildings are situated almost under this massive overpass…it looks temporary and neglected. It is about the raw realities and marginal living during that era, highlighting a kind of 'architecture of necessity.' Curator: True, that bridge looming over seems to symbolize progress maybe even an indifferent society towering over the downtrodden. I also see it as having a stark beauty to the line and shadows, a story told by the absence of color. Editor: For me, the material conditions really drive the emotional power. The plate, the acid, the press – these were the means to give form to what was there. It takes you to a space where craft and class anxieties meet on paper and then a little barrel outside! It feels so lived-in, despite the austerity. Curator: Exactly. It transcends mere depiction. When I view this piece, it reminds me that even the most vulnerable structures hold stories, lives, even little dreams, like those depicted in fairytales. I see something deeply poetic even in the hardship represented here. Editor: Perhaps...but without understanding the materials and conditions that enabled and shaped this work, those poems risk being idealized, don't you think? Curator: You're right, of course. It's about balancing that sensitivity with the hard reality. Editor: It adds a layer of empathy to this piece by thinking more closely of where the medium can take the message. I learned to think in depth and feel at length looking at it.