Salt Cellar 1935 - 1942

This *Salt Cellar*, which was rendered by Giacinto Capelli, is an exercise in delicate rendering. Capelli has chosen a muted palette, a single hue of purple, and used it economically to show the intricate forms of this glass vessel. There’s a softness to the piece, even though the object itself appears quite solid. Look at the base, how the color pools, anchoring the object to the ground, while the latticework of the body shows the artist's close observation and careful articulation. Then, note the very top of the glass, where the purple becomes almost transparent, barely there. This gradation of tone mimics the way that light would filter through the object. The slight variations show how the simple process of layering color can bring depth and form to a drawing. One thinks of Morandi, another artist who also looked closely at vessels, not to perfectly represent the objects themselves, but to create a feeling, an experience.