Server Dish c. 1937

This "Server Dish" drawing by Joseph Sudek, well, it's a humble rendering, and I love that. It feels like an exercise in seeing. Look at the way he's captured the subtle reflections on the dish's surface, using just graphite or maybe a bit of diluted ink. There's this beautiful gradation from light to dark that gives it a real sense of volume, but it's all so delicate and understated. It reminds me of Morandi, and his still life paintings of bottles. I wonder if Sudek was drawn to the simplicity of the object, or maybe it was just a chance to study light and form in a quiet way. The more you look the more there is to see, which, for me, is always the mark of a great work.