Brass Oil Lamp c. 1939

This is Russell Madole’s watercolor of a brass oil lamp. Look at the washes of gold and brown—the way the light seems to reflect off the metal. It's not just about depicting an object; it's about capturing the essence of light itself. I can almost feel Madole there, carefully layering each stroke. I imagine him pausing, tilting his head, trying to get just the right glint on the curved surfaces. Did he love the lamp? Was he interested in its form, or its function? Maybe it was about the challenge of painting light, or the textures of smooth metal against the pale paper. Think of the Old Masters and their still lifes, then think of this. It seems like Madole has taken all of that tradition and distilled it into something incredibly pure. There’s something so modest about the scale and the subject, but so ambitious in its execution. Artists work in this way, referencing and building on the work of those who came before. Painting is an ongoing conversation, where each artwork adds a new perspective.