Book Cover 1935 - 1942

Editor: This book cover, dating from between 1935 and 1942, is made with drawing, paper, and watercolour by Ann Gene Buckley. The geometric designs, lines and zigzagging patterns remind me of pueblo art, it also looks as if it’s illustrating something akin to a story. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Considering its formal properties, the symmetry is rather compelling. Notice the mirrored geometric shapes, repeated both vertically and horizontally across the cover, constructed through a series of distinct colour planes that bring attention to its structure. Editor: So the relationships of the geometric shapes would have been important to the artist? Curator: Precisely. The artist seems highly conscious of compositional balance. Consider the placement of that abstracted figure on the top half of the open book: a single shape, a departure that seems to punctuate the systematic arrangement of repeated colours and line forms that structure the larger planes. Do you agree? Editor: Yes, actually I do! The slight variation breaks up any chance of the piece becoming repetitive. So much is communicated through basic forms and their organization. Curator: Exactly. It's an exploration of geometric forms and their spatial relationships and capacity to establish planes that the eye is actively navigating as a whole object. Editor: Thank you! This way of approaching the art really expands my awareness of the power of simplicity. Curator: Indeed. Observing the way an artist like Buckley engages with these basic, formal properties deepens our appreciation of this approach to composition.