Toleware Tin Coffee Pot c. 1936

Max Soltmann painted this 'Toleware Tin Coffee Pot', and looking at it I can almost feel the brush in my own hand. The coffee pot sits there, static, but the decorative touches - the fruity motif, the golden swirls - sing with an improvisational energy. It feels like Soltmann is trying to inject some life into an otherwise mundane object. It's interesting to think about the act of painting as a kind of preservation. It feels like Soltmann is not just depicting a coffee pot, but also trying to capture a sense of a time and place, or maybe even a way of life that was slowly fading away. Did he have that in mind, I wonder? It reminds me of other artists who are also keen to preserve cultural traditions and folk art. Artists build on one another's work across time, don't they? Each one is an individual contribution to this ongoing conversation.