The Service Club 1939

Editor: Here we have Prentiss Taylor's 1939 graphite drawing, "The Service Club." There's a certain voyeuristic quality to it, peering into the windows and balconies of a bustling city scene at night. What story do you think Taylor is trying to tell here? Curator: Voyeuristic, yes! It’s as if we're peeking into snippets of urban life, moments of connection and solitude interwoven. To me, this work feels like a quiet poem about city dwellers. Note the stark contrasts created by the graphite, and the kind of cross-hatching he uses, which feels appropriate considering the intimate views we’re getting of people’s lives in a place such as, say, New Orleans. The building’s facade becomes almost a stage, doesn’t it? What characters are at play? Editor: Right, it does. You’ve got the pool players, the people dining, someone reading. It’s like a series of mini-dramas unfolding at once. And is that a telephone pole in the foreground between the windows? How does that contribute? Curator: Indeed, these elements place this piece in time and add a slightly unsettling dissonance. The pole bisects the space. But is it a barrier or a conduit? For all the intimacy it’s showing us, is there still this ever-present feeling of alienation, even isolation, despite all of this being presented together? Does that strike you? Editor: That's a really interesting point, I hadn't considered that sense of isolation within such a populated scene. Curator: I like that it reveals this contradiction, then. Perhaps a subtle observation about city life itself. Editor: Absolutely! It seems like the more you look, the more nuances you uncover. It is so amazing.