Pitcher 1935 - 1942

Janet Riza painted this pitcher on paper, but we don’t know exactly when. Look closely, and you’ll notice how the shadows of the pitcher play across the surface, rendering what could have been a prosaic image, as something more monumental. I imagine the artist carefully mixing the grey washes of the paint and letting each thin layer dry before adding the next. Building up tone and form slowly. There’s a quietness to this, that I admire. I imagine the artist in her studio, focused intently on the object. It seems to me, that the work has been made with a combination of diligence and play. I see in it a love of looking and touching. It's a simple, yet compelling study of the everyday. That handle, though! It’s not just a handle, but a kind of gestural flourish that animates the whole thing. So great! It’s the type of thing that a painter like Giorgio Morandi, who painted many still lives, might have explored. In art, we see echoes and continuations across time and between makers.