Pie Dish c. 1936

This Pie Dish by Joseph Sudek seems to have been made with watercolor, ink and graphite on paper. There’s an under-drawing in pencil, with delicate washes of pale blue and gold which evoke a sense of fragility. I'm drawn to the quiet intimacy of Sudek’s still life. It feels like he’s not just depicting an object, but a moment of contemplation. The surface of the plate is rendered with subtle gradations of color, suggesting a play of light and shadow. The blue decorations are applied with a light touch. See how they bleed softly into the white ground? This effect is enhanced by the thin paper. It suggests a fleeting quality, like a memory fading over time. The piece reminds me of Morandi’s paintings of bottles and jars, where ordinary objects are transformed into subjects of profound beauty through careful observation and understated execution. Like Morandi, Sudek finds poetry in the everyday, reminding us to slow down and appreciate the simple pleasures of life. What do you think?