Frosted Glass c. 1937

Edward White made this vase, "Frosted Glass," probably in the mid-20th century, with watercolor on paper. The gesture of the flowers, kinda like a stylized folk art, and the shadows on the base, feel almost tentative, as though they might be rubbed out and redone, like a provisional sketch. I sympathize with White, figuring out what he wanted to do. Was this a design for a vase, or a painting of a vase? The painting has this casual looseness, as though he’s riffing on the colors, letting the red bleed and the yellow almost glow. I like how the white of the paper shows through, making the glass look, well, frosted. It makes me think about other artists, like Fairfield Porter, who painted the everyday with such attention and care. Artists are always looking, always responding to one another, in an ongoing conversation across time. And that’s what makes painting so exciting: it’s a way of seeing and feeling and thinking, all at once.