Flask c. 1936

Editor: This watercolor, simply titled "Flask" from around 1936, is by Charles Caseau. It shows three views of what seems to be a decorative bottle. I’m struck by the use of geometric shapes. How do you interpret this work? Curator: It's interesting that you focus on geometric shapes! For me, this evokes questions about industrial design, consumerism, and regional identity in the Depression era. What do you make of the words "Louisville KY" so prominently displayed? Editor: I guess it was made there, maybe it speaks to local industry? The smaller “Glass Works” suggests that too. Was this piece intended as an advertisement? Curator: Possibly! I wonder how Caseau felt about the commercial world versus the artistic. Given the economic context of the 1930s, the emphasis on regional products might have been both a source of pride and a reminder of economic hardship. The image then acts as a site of competing tensions. Do you see anything else in the imagery that suggests competing ideas? Editor: Well, it's functional, a bottle...but also quite decorative, even artistic. It’s presented almost as a formal portrait, raising the status of an everyday object. Curator: Exactly. And consider the material – glass, typically associated with fragility – depicted with such defined, almost rigid lines. How might the use of watercolor contribute to the artwork's dialogue with industry and region? Editor: Because it is more 'delicate' than oil, watercolour suggests art, not advertisement, even if the image depicts something commercially produced. I never would have looked at this piece that way on my own. Curator: Thinking about how artworks intersect with social, historical, and economic forces definitely opens new avenues of interpretation!