Settee 1940

Here is Harry Eisman’s ‘Settee’, drawn with graphite and watercolor wash on paper. The palette is mostly browns and creams. I'm imagining Harry, born way back in 1855, carefully studying the carpentry and craft that went into making the original object. It’s like he’s reverse engineering it, right? Thinking through the joinery, the weaving, the way it all comes together to hold human bodies. I wonder what he was thinking about while he was so patiently rendering the object? The legs taper like icicles—or maybe upside-down carrots! They bring a certain levity to the geometry of the design. And the seat, woven from what looks like a fibrous material is so carefully rendered, it feels like you could sit right down. These kinds of drawings are like a conversation across time, don't you think? Different eras, different makers, all in dialogue. So that even a drawing of a settee becomes this invitation for us to participate in the exchange.