Door Knocker c. 1936

This “Door Knocker” was made by Jack Staloff, we don’t know when, and it’s made of color pencil on paper. It's a funny kind of drawing that shows both the solid, sculptural presence of the knocker, and then diagrams it as a drawing. The color is wonderful, especially in the use of blending that gives it a real sense of depth. This kind of mark-making feels so deliberate, it's about finding just the right tone for the metal. Look at the place where the knocker meets the circular plate, and you can see how the light seems to catch and reflect, just like it would on the object. This reminds me of other artists who blur the boundary between art and design, like a Le Corbusier, someone who thought deeply about line, form and function. "Door Knocker" is just one drawing, but I bet it speaks to a much wider practice. It invites us to think about art not just as an object to be looked at, but as something that has the capacity to connect different ways of thinking and seeing.