Hand Lantern c. 1938

This "Hand Lantern," by Joseph Rothenberg, is probably made with pencil and watercolor on paper. You can see the artist really thinking through the object, working and reworking the lines, searching for the right way to describe it. I love the way Rothenberg has handled the wood grain, especially on the top edges of the lantern. See how the different tones of brown create this subtle texture? It's not just about copying what's there, but about inventing a way of seeing wood. The lantern’s metal top feels almost weightless, but also solid, like a little crown. There's something about how the simple shape of the lantern feels like a precursor to Minimalism, but the attention to detail reminds me of the precision of Renaissance drawings. Art is always this conversation across time, a back-and-forth where meaning is never fixed.