Jug c. 1937

Yolande Delasser made this jug painting, with what looks like a diluted ink wash over paper. I can imagine Delasser in the studio, shifting the jug, drawing it, then re-drawing it, with big floral forms, a few bold, a few shy. The drawing is so delicate and unsure. It looks like a real struggle to get the thing down, to feel the object-ness of the jug and the flowers she must have placed in it. The ink is thin and watery, but the brushstrokes are confident, and the overall effect is one of quiet contemplation. The shapes! They have this amazing way of being both solid and ethereal at the same time. It's as if Delasser is trying to capture not just the appearance of the jug, but its essence, its very jug-ness. You can see how the practice of painting becomes a site of inquiry here. I wonder if she knew Arthur Dove? It has a similar lightness and grace to some of his watercolors. What a conversation!