Flask c. 1940

John Fisk made this painting of three flasks at an unknown date with watercolor and graphite on paper. I love the way these flasks shimmer, almost like a memory. Look at how Fisk layers the washes of gold and brown, building up the form with delicate strokes, like he’s tracing the light itself. It's a slow, thoughtful process, a kind of meditation on the object. You can almost feel the coolness of the metal, the smooth curve of the flask in your hand. The central flask, with its baroque floral design, has a certain elegance, while the others have a more modern feel. All three flasks are like historical echoes. Each one is caught in the same light, with the same process, but each has a different character. It brings to mind the work of Giorgio Morandi, who obsessively painted the same bottles over and over, exploring the subtle shifts in light and form. Art is just an ongoing conversation across time, an embrace of ambiguity.