Bowl 1935 - 1942

This small painting of a bowl was made by John Dana. Look at the blue! I can imagine Dana absorbed in the push and pull of creating this image, making decisions with each stroke of the brush to capture the essence of the bowl's form and the depth of the blue. How does he capture the translucence of the glass? See how he builds up layers of the same colour, coaxing a luminous glow out of it? Dana’s work seems to fit into a long line of painters interested in the subtle shifts of colour, a little like Morandi, for instance. Through painting the same object again and again, a painter reveals the ever changing nature of light. This painterly obsession shows us how everything around us shimmers with infinite possibilities, just waiting for a painter to come along. I can relate to this feeling. And I wonder, does it resonate with you too?