Table Mirror 1935 - 1942

Helen Bronson made this drawing of a table mirror with brown paint on paper. The mirror is centered, and it has a highly ornate frame. I wonder if the artist felt a connection to the designs, as though she was in conversation with the person who had carved the original frame. Each stroke, a thoughtful echo of the carver's hand. I imagine Bronson being drawn to the mirror’s intricate details—those leafy flourishes, the subtle curves—capturing their essence with delicate lines. It’s an intimate act, to trace the contours of another's creation like this. To be fair, painting is always a form of translation—a way of seeing and feeling the world. Maybe Bronson found herself in the mirror’s reflection too, contemplating her own image as she worked?