Silver Beaker 1935 - 1942

Karl Joubert’s drawing of a "Silver Beaker" is rendered with graphite or charcoal on paper. It’s a study in gradations, of light and shadow. The piece is both very careful and, somehow, also nonchalant. I mean, think about it: that kind of delicate shading takes patience, a real investment. But there’s also the casualness of the sketch itself, the plainness of the subject. There’s no information to be had here, the thing itself is the whole story. I'm drawn to its imperfections. See the unevenness of the beaker's lip, the soft variations in its cylindrical form? I can almost feel Joubert's hand moving across the page, gently coaxing the form into being. There's an intimacy to still life, a quiet conversation between the artist and object. It's a reminder that even the simplest things can hold beauty and complexity. Like Giorgio Morandi, Joubert shows us that the act of looking, of really seeing, is an act of love.