Baby's Shirt c. 1939

Virginia Berge made this drawing of a baby's shirt with ink on paper. It's a simple, almost diagrammatic rendering. There's a real tenderness in the precision of the line, particularly in the scalloped edging around the neck. Each little loop is carefully delineated, creating a rhythm that’s both decorative and strangely moving. It feels like a meditation on care, on the labor of love involved in making something for a child. The drawing isn't trying to trick you into thinking it *is* the shirt. It's more like a memory of a shirt, or an idea of a shirt, something held in the mind and then translated onto paper through the act of drawing. You might think of Agnes Martin here, or perhaps some of Ree Morton's more delicate works. There’s something so gentle about this piece, a quiet assertion of the value in the everyday. It’s a reminder that even the simplest objects can carry profound meaning.