Curtain Drapery c. 1936

Curator: So, here we have "Curtain Drapery," a watercolor and ink drawing created by Henry Meyers around 1936. It's striking, isn't it? What's your take? Editor: Utterly charming! It’s like stumbling upon a secret garden sketched in delicate pastels. The birds, the blossoms—it feels so light, almost whimsical. I could get lost in this! Curator: Right. Meyer was known for these kinds of decorative art pieces with an orientalist bent. One could argue that these drawing was probably used in industrial fabric production and sold on a massive scale. Note how the drawing repeats... Editor: Of course, and I think that it retains the spirit and touch of the hand...I can see some variation in color saturation and also linework thickness which could speak to iterative changes, maybe for the printer. How neat! Curator: Yes, I find myself questioning the implications of these patterns in people's home, the aesthetic it encourages and who had access to them. Was it designed, manufactured, and consumed mindfully and ethically? These are important considerations. Editor: Interesting angle. For me, beyond production and consumption, it also brings up questions of authenticity in craft... the interplay between the individual mark and mass production… There's a melancholy too. Knowing this vibrant scene might just end up as wallpaper feels a bit… well, pedestrian. Curator: Perhaps that speaks to a perceived hierarchy of value: industrial design versus, let's say, gallery art? Maybe it is worth reflecting on the status, power, and recognition allotted to various roles within the design production chain during Meyer's era. Editor: Hmm, well, either way I would love to see it in repeat to get a sense of its full scale. Regardless of value judgements, it evokes such a calm and ethereal sense! Curator: And thinking through the conditions of art making then adds dimensions to that feeling, I find. It helps ground it for me in sociohistorical reality! Editor: It certainly invites us to consider the many lives a work can have—as an artwork, as a pattern, as part of our daily lives! I find myself reevaluating where the value in this sort of piece exists... Curator: Indeed. A lovely piece for prompting such thoughts. Thank you.