Pitcher 1936

Eugene Shellady made this 'Pitcher' on paper, but the object depicted feels very real. It's all in the mark-making, the way Shellady builds up the form with these delicate, almost hesitant strokes. Look at the surface, how the brushwork mimics the texture of the pottery itself. The color is this warm, earthy red, like sun-baked clay, and it varies across the pitcher. See how the darker splotches create this sense of depth and shadow, making it feel three-dimensional? There's a real physical presence here, a sense of the hand that formed it. It’s not about perfection; it's about the process, the slow layering of marks. Shellady’s work reminds me a little of Giorgio Morandi, who painted all these still lifes of bottles. Both of them find something profound in the everyday, turning simple objects into something beautiful and contemplative. To me, it’s a reminder that art is all around us, if we just take the time to really see it.