Pitcher c. 1936

Ralph Atkinson’s ‘Pitcher’ is a drawing on paper that captures the essence of a cut-glass vessel. The rendering of the red, patterned surface is fascinating, a real exercise in trying to catch light on a complicated form. There's something about the physicality of the medium that gets me; the way the paper soaks up the color, the bleeding of the marks. Look closely and you can see how he teases out the facets of the object with layers of transparent pigment. See how the handle almost disappears into the background? It’s a bold move, leaving it unresolved and sketchy against the tight rendering of the body of the jug. This kind of drawing is all about trusting the process and letting the hand do the work of the eye. It reminds me of some of Giorgio Morandi’s still life paintings in its simplicity and dedication to tone. This piece reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation, a back-and-forth between seeing and feeling, intention and accident.