Vase c. 1937

This is Janet Riza's Vase, made sometime between 1855 and 1995, with what looks like watercolour. The colour is so rich, and the shadows are blended so meticulously it almost looks like a photograph. But when you look closer you see the details in the marks and the edges of the vase are blurry with watercolour bleeds. I love how the light shines through the vase, in the transparent gradient of dark at the edges to light at the center. You can see the light reflecting off the vase and back at you! I wonder what other still life paintings Riza made, or if she ventured into abstraction with this understanding of colour and light. When I look at this vase I'm reminded of Giorgio Morandi. It really speaks to the potential of the still life as a site of quiet contemplation.