Inkwell c. 1937

Frank Fumagalli made this drawing of an inkwell sometime between 1855 and 1995. I imagine him sketching it, trying to capture its sheen with those delicate pencil lines. He’s repeating the same stroke over and over to get it just right. You know, it's funny how artists obsess over everyday objects. I wonder what Fumagalli was thinking as he worked on this? Was he thinking about the ink that would fill it? About what it would be used to write? Maybe he was just taken by its simple shape, like Morandi and his bottles. The way the light catches on the surface… There’s a quietness to this drawing, a stillness that makes you want to pause and really look. That’s what drawing does. It's a conversation across time. Fumagalli sees the inkwell, draws it, and now we get to see it too, through his eyes.