Wine Glass c. 1940

John Dana made this Wine Glass with what looks like graphite on paper. The marks are very light, with careful shading and detail. It’s all about this meticulous process of observation and rendering, isn't it? The way the light catches the glass, it’s so delicate, almost ghostly. The paper itself is aged, it’s got this beautiful warm tone that makes the cool grey of the glass pop. You can almost feel the smooth, cool surface of the glass, and the way the light bends and distorts through it, it’s just captivating. Look closely at the base, and you can see the subtle gradations of tone that give it shape and weight. Dana reminds me of other precisionists like Charles Sheeler, who found beauty in the everyday. Ultimately, art is about how we see, how we interpret, and how we make sense of the world around us.