The Pieces We Leave Behind: A Tale of Two Artists and a Desk

Abstract

How do objects gather value and bear the weight of history? This research project addresses this question through research into an old wooden desk stored in the corner of an office at Queen’s University. It has six drawers coloured with a black cherry stain and decorative wooden handles. Adhered onto the desktop surface is a thin overlay of dark leather, to which is affixed a brass plaque that reads, "This desk was used by two famous Canadian artists, J.W. Beatty (1869-1941) and A.Y. Jackson (1882-1974). It was presented to Queen's University in 1980 by Dr. Naomi Jackson Groves, niece of A.Y. Jackson." J.W. Beatty and A.Y. Jackson were influential Canadian painters, whose stylistic focus on Canadian landscapes underpinned the formation of the Group of Seven; the desk was a non-sentient observer of their contributions to Canadian art and art history until 1968, when the desk left Jackson’s possession. Beyond the desk's immediate story, there is a larger research question: "how does the social biography of an object reveal the dynamics of its meaning, affect its value as a physical object, increase its significance in the art world, and determine where it is best preserved?" Using information uncovered during the summer of 2019, this presentation will reveal the importance of the desk’s provenance in relation to the stories of two influential Canadian artists, as well as share the process of investigating the biography of the desk through archival research methods.