Chair 1935 - 1942

Editor: Here we have Edith Magnette’s "Chair," a pencil drawing dated between 1935 and 1942. It’s quite technical, almost architectural. It feels very…planned, but also kind of impersonal. How do you interpret this work? Curator: This isn’t just a chair; it's a document reflecting its time. Consider the '30s and '40s—an era marked by economic depression, and the rise of industrial design alongside academic artistic styles. Does seeing this piece in that light shift your perspective on that 'impersonal' feeling? Editor: A bit, yes. It reminds me that this was not just art for art's sake. The precision needed to create this object might be seen in response to the world surrounding it, I assume? Curator: Exactly! Now, think about who traditionally occupied such chairs, and in what spaces? How does the act of documenting its design intersect with broader discussions about labor, gender, and social hierarchy? Does that chair signify authority, comfort, or something else entirely? Editor: Well, it looks sturdy, so it makes me think about domesticity and labor. It’s a solid chair, meant to be used. Was it meant to challenge social assumptions around industrial design, by focusing our attention on a practical application? Curator: Precisely! And how does Magnette, as a female artist, potentially challenge the male-dominated fields of both art and industrial design through this drawing? Is she staking her claim to those fields? Editor: That’s such an interesting layer I hadn’t considered. So this drawing invites us to examine the intersection of design, labor, and gender during that period? Curator: Precisely. By closely studying what may appear as impersonal on the surface, we begin to uncover its deeply personal and political undertones. Editor: I’ll never look at a chair the same way again! Curator: Nor should you. Every object, every line, has a story to tell.