Two Silver Soup Spoons c. 1936

Nicholas Zupa made this drawing of “Two Silver Soup Spoons,” and it's all about capturing light and form with graphite on paper. I imagine Zupa sitting with these spoons, turning them in the light, really studying how the metal reflects and absorbs the light around them. Maybe he’s thinking about how these everyday objects hold memories of meals shared and lives lived. The way he’s rendered the curves and the subtle gradients of tone makes them feel so real, so touchable. You can almost feel the cool smoothness of the silver. The spoons are not just spoons; they become stand-ins for something else. It’s like he’s saying, ‘Look closely, there’s beauty and depth in the simplest things.’ And that's what artists do, right? They show us how to see the world in a new light.