Amana Baker's Oven Lamp c. 1937

Frank Eiseman made this drawing of an Amana Baker’s Oven Lamp some time during his short life. It's like a technical diagram with a beautiful, delicate colour wash. The rusty brown palette gives a real sense of the object itself: you can imagine the heat of the oven radiating from it. Eiseman's mark-making is so controlled, yet you can still sense the hand of the artist. Notice the little rooster perched on top; such a tiny detail but it gives the whole thing a sense of folksy charm. I love the way he's captured the texture of the metal, it feels so solid and real. It reminds me of some of the meticulous drawings of everyday objects made by Precisionist painters like Charles Sheeler. But, unlike Sheeler, Eiseman isn’t trying to celebrate industrial progress. He’s interested in something more humble and human. In the end, though, art isn't about fixed meanings, it's about opening up possibilities for new ways of seeing.