Ship's Lantern c. 1942

Arthur Ringold made this 'Ship's Lantern' using watercolor, giving it this incredible ghostly feel. The way the light catches the metal, almost like a memory, is really something. You can almost feel him feeling out the textures, like the worn metal or the thin panes of glass. There’s this beautiful blue peeking through the glass, but it’s so faint. Look how it contrasts with the rust-colored circle behind the glass. It's almost like he's caught a ghost ship in the painting. Ringold's work reminds me a bit of Charles Sheeler, who also had a thing for industrial objects. Both capture a kind of silent beauty in everyday things. It is a reminder that art often thrives in the realm of suggestion, inviting us to see beyond the obvious, to find poetry in the commonplace.