Rosie 1936

Editor: This is Will Barnet's drawing, "Rosie," from 1936. The medium looks like dry media, maybe charcoal or graphite? There’s a melancholy air about it; she seems so small and still in that chair. What strikes you when you look at this piece? Curator: Oh, Rosie. It’s funny, isn't it, how a simple portrait can be like gazing into a pool of deep water? Barnet's play with light and shadow creates a world of interiority. Notice the almost haunting quality of her eyes – pools of dark ink that seem to see right through you. Editor: Haunting is a good word. What do you make of the realism? Curator: I find myself thinking about realism. What *is* realism, really? This is a portrait, sure, but it’s also a feeling, an emotion captured in line and form. Barnet isn’t just showing us what Rosie looks like, he's showing us *something* about her essence. What do you feel when you look at her hands clasped so tightly in her lap? Editor: A little nervous, maybe? It feels very contained. I guess it's less about surface realism and more about psychological truth? Curator: Precisely. Think about that artistic decision. That shadow? Everything about the work hints to that. Now, does your impression of the work change? Editor: Yes, actually. I see that shift now; it goes from being simply a portrait to being more like an emotion in material form. Curator: Beautifully put. Isn’t it astonishing how a single drawing can hold so much?