Jug c. 1937

Francis Law Durand made this jug, with watercolor and graphite, and the result is subtle, a bit sandy, totally material. I feel like Durand is speaking to other artists, as well as viewers like us. I imagine he enjoyed the process of noticing something, an old jug, and then slowly replicating its form and texture with his tools. It’s an act of deep looking, right? Like, what is ‘brown’ exactly? The jug sits there on the paper, a vessel containing...what? History? Memory? Maybe Durand was thinking about the contrast between the jug's humble, everyday existence and the grander narratives of history and liberty inscribed upon its surface. The artist is thinking, painting, then thinking again through painting. Maybe the jug reminded Durand of another one, maybe the artist was interested in old pottery making techniques, who knows.