Covered Jar c. 1939

Alfred Parys made this sweet, still-life drawing of a humble, covered jar, we don't know exactly when, or why. It’s all about the process of seeing, isn’t it? How the artist encourages you to observe a simple form in minute detail, and isn’t that part of the work? It’s very brown, brown, brown. The jar has these gorgeous, drippy stains, almost like tree sap, like an ancient tree. And the texture! The tiny specks of white, the delicate cross-hatching of the wood grain, these are the things that make it so alive. The jar is very present and solid, sitting on that simple, wooden surface. The lid is on the side, casually dropped. The way he captures the texture reminds me of Morandi’s etchings. Both of them take these everyday objects and turn them into something monumental, and maybe even a little bit mysterious. It’s the kind of art that asks you to slow down, to look closer, and to find beauty in the ordinary.