Charles Sheeler based his 1934 painting American Interior on a photograph. He interwove this modernist vision with his response to the purity of forms and patterns in handmade objects from the American past, such as the simple Shaker designs in the box, textiles, and chair. Kathryn Scanlan and Karin Roffman will talk about objects, painting, photography, and the fine line between the imaginary and the real.

Karin Roffman is currently a senior lecturer in Humanities, English and American Studies and the Associate Director of Public Humanities at Yale University. She was previously an Associate Professor of English at West Point and a Visiting Professor of Literature at Bard College.