Lowboy c. 1939

Frank Wenger's Lowboy is a mechanical drawing, giving a measured view of a piece of furniture. I can imagine the artist carefully choosing his pencil grade, trying to get a line that balances clarity with softness. This isn't exactly my kind of art; I like the mess and freedom of paint. But I can appreciate the way this drawing thinks about design. You can see he’s figuring things out as he goes. Maybe he was thinking about the people who would use this table, the objects they might place on it, and the stories it would hold. I am curious about the flourishes like the curved lines. Does it reflect a particular style, or is it Wenger adding his own flair? The beauty of art is that it doesn't need to have all the answers. It’s a conversation, and Wenger here has given us something to talk about.