Lamp c. 1940

Frank Fumagalli made this drawing of a lamp with pencil on paper. It’s this muted scene of light and shadow that makes the lamp appear almost ethereal. I can imagine Fumagalli’s hand moving across the page, gently coaxing the form out of the paper. The pencil lines are delicate, almost tentative, but together they define the curves and edges of this little vessel. What was he thinking when he made it? I wonder if he was thinking about the actual light this lamp could emit? I’m thinking about how light and shadow is communicated here, in lines and smudges. You know, drawing has this intimate quality, like a whisper. And in this drawing, there's something quiet and reflective that reminds me of Morandi’s still lives, in its meditative focus on the everyday. It feels like an ode to simplicity, a gentle invitation to slow down and observe the beauty in the mundane.