Needlepoint Picture c. 1937

Editor: This is Jules Lefevere’s “Needlepoint Picture” from around 1937. I'm immediately struck by how peculiar it is – the textures created with what looks like watercolour and coloured pencil try to imitate the patterns of needlepoint, but it doesn’t quite come off, which is odd! I'm curious, what story do you think it's trying to tell? Curator: Ah, yes! It's an enigma, isn't it? At first glance, we’re faced with this determined gentleman, seemingly giving a sales pitch in front of… well, so many things! Look at him gesturing, and then look *past* him. Do you see all the elements surrounding him? The agrarian tools mixed with the…anvil? What era do you think it depicts, and why do you suppose those objects were chosen to be painted? Editor: Well, the man’s attire gives it a very distinct 19th-century vibe. But the globe and American flag complicate things – it makes me wonder about ideas of progress and national identity being presented with those simpler tools on the other side. Curator: Exactly! It feels as though it attempts to encapsulate… the march of civilization. I bet that Lefevere had the urge to show us America at that turning point between its agrarian roots and its industrialized future. Almost as if progress itself is embodied in that gentleman. A confident… ringmaster. The slightly surreal style, too, lends it a wonderfully odd character that has a hard time committing to either era, I wonder which version of America Lefevere thinks won in the end? Editor: I never considered the sense of performance this composition invokes! The question about the gentleman as ringmaster is definitely thought-provoking! Curator: Indeed! Art often gives us riddles instead of answers. Pondering those questions is half the fun!