Pie Crust Crimper c. 1937

Samuel O. Klein made this drawing of a pie crust crimper with graphite and watercolor on paper. I love how he isolates these objects in the white space of the paper, almost like specimens in a lab. I can imagine Klein carefully rendering the details of the crimper, from the ornate edges of the wheel to the tines of the fork. What was he thinking as he drew? Was he thinking about his mother's pies? Or was he simply interested in the form and function of this everyday object? I'm drawn to the way Klein renders the metallic surface of the crimper with subtle gradations of gray and brown. The use of watercolor gives the drawing a delicate, almost ethereal quality, but look closer, and you can see it’s tough. Pie crust isn’t easy. It’s almost like Klein is elevating this humble kitchen tool to the status of a fine art object. I see echoes of the precision and attention to detail that you find in the work of artists like Agnes Martin, yet I wonder, who was he looking at? Who will see this in the future?