Wooden Wine Bottle c. 1938

Wilbur M Rice made this wooden wine bottle in an unknown time, using an unknown media. Isn’t that fascinating? It is the kind of piece that immediately gives you a window into his process. I find myself wondering about the meticulousness of the artist as he built up the wood grain with the delicate hatching of his pen or brush. Look how Rice gives volume to the cylindrical shape of the bottle through subtle tonal variations, employing the most basic of color palettes to describe the form of a wine bottle. The texture is rendered so convincingly. You can almost feel the smoothness of the polished wood and the coolness of the silver band at the base. The decision to depict such an everyday object with so much attention gives it a strange kind of dignity, don’t you think? You see this sort of attention to craftsmanship and materials in the work of outsider artists like Martín Ramírez. Both artists share an interest in transforming humble materials into objects of beauty and contemplation, reminding us that art can be found in the most unexpected places.