Water Glass 1936

Ralph Atkinson painted this water glass on an unknown date, using what looks like watercolor on paper. You can see the delicate gradations of blue and green that give the glass its form. It’s as if the artist was coaxing the object into being, stroke by stroke. I wonder what Atkinson was thinking as he painted each curve and facet. Maybe he was thinking about light, how it bends and refracts through the glass. The way the pattern warps around the cylindrical form is really carefully observed. I bet he had that water glass sitting right in front of him! It makes me think about other painters who focus on the everyday, like Giorgio Morandi. Like them, Atkinson finds beauty in simplicity, transforming an ordinary object into something worthy of contemplation. There’s a quiet conversation happening between artists across time, each offering their own way of seeing the world. What do you think he saw?