Silver Creamer 1936

Nicholas Zupa made this drawing of a silver creamer, using graphite on paper, and honestly, it feels so intimate, like a peek into his world. I can imagine Zupa, hunched over his drawing board, meticulously shading and hatching to capture the creamer's delicate form. He’s probably thinking about light, about how it hits the curved surfaces and creates these subtle gradients of tone. Look at the floral details around its belly, and the way that the graphite almost seems to mimic the luster of real silver. The additional technical drawing in the lower left corner gives us a clue: maybe he was working on a design, or planning to fabricate this object. Or maybe he was just fascinated by its shape and wanted to understand it better through drawing. Artists often have a real love for the objects they depict. They enter into an unspoken conversation, learning from their predecessors while adding their unique voices to the mix.