Jug c. 1936

John Dana made this painting of a jug, sometime between 1855 and 1995, we don't know exactly when. It's this juicy rendering of a simple form, done with what looks like gouache or maybe watercolor. The texture of the paint is so important here, right? Look at the way Dana layers the green, kind of scribbling it on, but also leaving these little glimpses of the paper underneath. The brushwork isn't trying to hide itself; it's all about the gesture, the feel of the hand moving across the page. And that green! It's not just one green, but a whole family of greens, from the deepest, almost black shadows to the bright, reflective highlights. The horizontals at the bottom really anchor the jug to the ground and it feels so real. I see a bit of Fairfield Porter in the simplicity and directness, that same love for the everyday object. It's a reminder that art is about process, about looking, and about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.