Water Main c. 1937

Walter Praefke made this mysterious painting, Water Main, of two cylindrical objects on paper, we don't know when, or even what they are really. The paint here is opaque, applied with close attention to the texture of these wooden forms. Look at the top object, like a dark, stubby log, hollowed out to make a short pipe. Praefke renders it with such detail, you can almost feel the rough edges and the slick interior. The vertical piece below, maybe another kind of pipe, is just as carefully observed. There’s an honesty to the way Praefke approaches these objects, a kind of reverence for the mundane. It reminds me a little of the meticulousness of an artist like Giorgio Morandi, finding endless fascination in the arrangement of bottles and jars. Praefke, like Morandi, invites us to slow down, to really see the beauty in the everyday, and to consider the stories objects might tell if we take the time to listen.