Silver Tankard c. 1936

Clayton Braun made this drawing of a "Silver Tankard" at an unknown date. It's like he's whispering secrets about light and form with each delicate stroke. Imagine him, hunched over his paper, squinting, trying to capture the glint of light on that reflective surface. There's a kind of quiet intensity in the way he's rendered the curves and edges. I’m particularly drawn to the handle. It’s almost like a dance, a sinuous curve that invites your hand to grasp it. You can feel the artist’s hand moving across the page, coaxing the image into being. It reminds me of the quiet dedication of Agnes Martin, or maybe the obsessive mark-making of someone like Hanne Darboven, each line a meditation on the object itself. We think we know what a tankard is, and then we see it, re-presented, re-made, and we understand it anew.