Pitcher c. 1937

Curator: Oh, this has a certain… ethereal quality, doesn't it? It reminds me of sea glass found after a storm, tumbled smooth by time and tide. Editor: We're looking at a work entitled "Pitcher," created circa 1937 by Giacinto Capelli. The artist rendered it in watercolor and pencil on drawing paper, giving this simple object a certain prominence. Curator: Prominence indeed! It's not just a pitcher, it's an idealized version of one. The color choice is particularly striking – a vibrant, translucent blue, hinting at cleanliness and purity. Almost utopian, if you think about it. Editor: Given the historical context of the late 1930s, that reading tracks. After the crash and during the rise of fascism, depicting an object associated with domesticity, simplicity, and communal nourishment carries certain weight. Even the realism, a desire to see things as they really are in such uncertain times. Curator: Yes, I suppose so. And the composition too! It’s carefully centered, almost reverential. I also see echoes of ancient vessels...a chalice of sorts? Editor: Precisely, its lifted form may recall those religious forms. Considering this was during Mussolini's Italy, known for promoting idealized visions and traditional gender roles, that could be quite revealing about this time period. But who was this work meant for? What class position would it be most closely associated with? Curator: I see that, but it's lovely to observe even just as it is - so airy, so precise and also dreamy, even. I want to believe, when I look at this object, that things are better than they are. It gives me hope, however naive that may be. Editor: Art offers this strange mix, no? Sometimes it comforts, sometimes it complicates—and often, it does both. Even with something as straightforward as this glass water pitcher. Curator: Yes, complicated comfort, comfortable complication… I think that is precisely right. Let’s leave it at that.