Side Chair 1936

Editor: This is Mary Berner’s “Side Chair” from 1936, a drawing rendered in colored pencil and graphite. It has an interesting focus – a single chair, presented in the very center, is both elegant and yet so…ordinary. What can we make of it? Curator: Observe how the verticality established by the chair's back is interrupted by the ornate floral design on the seat, creating a visual tension. Notice also how the subtle gradations of the coloured-pencil work bring a remarkable three-dimensionality to a common object. Editor: So, it's not about the subject as much as the artistic treatment of it? The attention to form? Curator: Precisely. Consider the repeated geometric elements – the spindles of the back, the spherical shapes adorning the legs – and how these contribute to an overall structural harmony, a balanced interplay of forms. What is it, visually, that holds your attention? Editor: I keep noticing the contrast between the straight lines of the chair back, and the curve motifs along the top bar and legs, especially combined with the rectangles and squares. What could this all mean? Curator: Perhaps the artist wants us to understand design as a collection of carefully considered, fundamental forms. See the delicate use of colour to define light and shadow, enhancing our perception of the chair's physical presence. It elevates the object beyond mere representation. Editor: So by taking this one chair, she has isolated the bare essence of good design itself? Curator: Indeed. It prompts us to see how line, shape and shade, so fundamental, give dimension and beauty to all objects we take for granted. I see this piece differently now. Editor: Me too! Paying such close attention to visual structure can reveal so much.