Candlestick c. 1937

Curator: What a detailed and elegant study! Editor: This is Henry Meyers' "Candlestick" from around 1937, done in watercolor and drawing. It's… unexpectedly charming, I guess. It looks very precise, and I’m curious – what jumps out at you when you look at it? Curator: The interesting part, from my point of view, lies in its creation. Consider Meyers rendering a mass-producible object. It isn’t unique. The focus isn't the artistry of its creation, like sculpture, but how that final object then gets reproduced across society, transforming the aesthetic landscape. Think of all of these, perhaps hundreds of these, that were created. Now someone decided they wanted to study that, what does that reveal? Editor: So you are less focused on the candlestick *as* art, and more about its status as a consumer good? Curator: Exactly! How does art, through mediums like watercolour which require skill, end up serving mass production? What does the process of depicting it reveal about the artist’s intent, and perhaps, the society's value system? Is he merely drafting something, or trying to infuse some status and individuality? Does it challenge our conceptions of what deserves artistic consideration, given it's literally just a technical sketch of a mass produce object? Editor: That’s such an interesting lens! I wouldn’t have considered the social and economic aspects. I was too focused on the candlestick itself, as an object of beauty. Curator: Art's about expanding our perspective and recognizing that all aspects of culture influence what and how art is created. Seeing these artifacts of industrialization provides an invaluable insight. Editor: Definitely, you’ve made me rethink how I view this piece. It’s less about the candlestick, more about… the process. Curator: Precisely! It reflects the interaction of artistry and consumerism and reveals how society consumes artistry in the design of utilitarian things, shedding light on the materials of our day-to-day existence.