Jug c. 1939

Alfred Parys made this watercolour of a jug. Look at the surface of the vessel and the way Parys has played with the paint, adding flecks of ochre and sienna to the green surface to create a mottled effect. The artist might have been thinking about the way a glaze appears on a ceramic pot, built up through many layers. I can imagine the careful and considered way this artwork came into being. The earthiness of the palette suggests the vessel is made of clay. There's a clear affection for ordinary, everyday objects. Parys has celebrated the jug for its intrinsic qualities. I admire the way he's taken this object and elevated it through the act of painting. Artists are always in dialogue with one another, consciously or unconsciously. There's something of Morandi's still life paintings in the understated sensibility of this work.