Candle Box 1935 - 1942

Jacob Gielens made this pencil drawing of a Candle Box. It kind of reminds me of a Hopper painting, all that lonely realism. Look how carefully Gielens has rendered the materiality of this utilitarian object. The silvery sheen on the metal box is just amazing. You can almost feel the cold, smooth surface. I imagine him, squinting, holding it up to the light to catch those highlights. I love how he’s captured every little imperfection, every tiny scratch and dent. There's a real tenderness in that attention to detail. It’s like he’s saying, "This object matters. This ordinary thing has its own kind of beauty." It makes you think about all the unseen hands that shaped and used this object, doesn't it? All the stories it could tell. That’s what artists do—they help us see the world in a new light. They’re in a constant conversation with each other, building on what came before, and pushing us to see things differently.