Crock c. 1936

This is Yolande Delasser's 'Crock', an undated artwork made with pencil and watercolour. It looks like Delasser started out with a light pencil sketch of a classic vase, then amplified a detail of it in watercolour. I wonder if Delasser handled pottery herself. There’s a real sense of three-dimensionality, of turning the clay in her hands as she studies the form and how the light would catch on the ridges and curves. I love how the lower study in blue watercolour zooms in on the floral relief design. The blue really pops against the warm wash in the background. It makes me think of Henri Matisse and his cut-outs: just the bare minimum of lines and color, but conveying so much about shape and volume. You can feel Delasser distilling down all the information into these essential forms. Artists are always looking, learning, and borrowing from one another.