Jug 1937

George Loughridge made this watercolor of a jug probably sometime in the mid-20th century. What I love is the subtle gradation in the drawing and the details that reveal the object's age, like that stain near the bottom. The painting is more about process and about the eye than about any bravura moves with the brush. I think about how Loughridge is playing with both the surface and the form. Look how the glaze on the jug mottles the color, creating a kind of atmospheric effect, despite the very direct representation. And then there's that smaller jug hovering in the background, a double take that disrupts our sense of space and depth. It's almost like he's saying, "Here's another view, another possibility." It reminds me of Fairfield Porter's quiet domestic scenes, though Porter's got more of an impressionist vibe, and Loughridge’s jug is flatter, more graphic. To me, this jug is an invitation to slow down, look closely, and find beauty in the everyday, and to consider the many ways an artist can show us how they see.