Vase c. 1936

John Tarantino made this drawing of a vase, and I'm thinking about the way the color moves from darker to lighter. Like a jewel, it draws the eye. I imagine him thinking about all the ways to represent light, how the pink becomes almost clear at the edges of the glass, and how the shadow defines the form. It's a simple subject, but the way he renders it is so careful. The base of the vase seems almost like it glows from within, and it shows the artist’s fascination with light and transparency. It reminds me of other still-life painters, like Giorgio Morandi, who found endless inspiration in simple objects. There's a generosity to the exercise. It’s funny how someone could spend so long looking at a vase, trying to get it just right. But that's what artists do, right? We look and look, and then we try to make something that makes other people look, too. And, hopefully, feel something.