Patch Box of Kentucky Rifle c. 1938

Editor: This watercolor by Albert Levone, dating back to around 1938, is entitled "Patch Box of Kentucky Rifle." The precision! I'm immediately struck by the almost mechanical coolness of the piece. What's your take on this, considering its history and cultural relevance? Curator: Cool, yes, but with a ghost of warmth, no? Levone’s rendering is precise, almost clinical, like a diagram lifted from a craftsman's journal. It's a memory of a tactile experience, translated into something quite different. I wonder, can we feel the spirit of Kentucky in those calculated lines? Or does the watercolouring evoke, perhaps ironically, something of the damp Appalachian mornings when these rifles were cherished possessions? I'm almost longing for the touch of oil and walnut when viewing it... Are we perhaps yearning for what the watercolor, despite its object, obscures? Editor: That’s beautifully put. The damp Appalachian mornings… it's funny, I hadn’t thought of it like that at all. Your thoughts lend such character to a piece that felt, at first glance, strictly about the objective. It strikes me now, this isn't just about showing a rifle's patch box, it's hinting at a whole lifestyle, at heritage, rendered in fragile medium. Curator: Exactly. Art is about revealing, and it can do so in unexpected ways. Even a seemingly simple diagram, brought to us from a distance of years, and via careful consideration of colors, can carry a world of history. Editor: It’s so interesting how shifting perspective changes everything. I see so much more in this piece now than when we started.