Study Chair c. 1941

This drawing of a chair was made by Sydney Roberts; I’m not sure when, but it’s a nice, straightforward sort of image. The palette is limited to a narrow range of browns and greys, and the approach to mark-making is similarly restricted. It’s a very clear, even rendering of the subject; there’s no fuzziness to the lines, no visible texture, and no room for doubt as to what it is we’re looking at. The result is a rather enigmatic piece. It seems to be a faithful reproduction of this chair, and it even tells us the dimensions of the original object, but for what purpose? What is the status of this image? Is it purely representational, or can we see it as a work of art in its own right? I think there’s something of both going on here. It reminds me of the work of some of those early twentieth-century American painters, like Charles Demuth and Charles Sheeler, who took inspiration from photography and commercial design. They were interested in capturing the clean lines and geometric forms of the modern world, and I see something of that sensibility here, too. But that's just my interpretation. Ultimately, the meaning of the work is up to you.