Silver Beaker c. 1936

Michael Fenga made this drawing of a silver beaker with graphite on paper. It looks like a study, maybe a preparatory drawing for a silversmith, the kind of drawing you might make to show off a design to a client. The way Fenga uses graphite, it’s all about soft gradations. He's not hiding the process; you can see the individual strokes that build up the form. And that form is so simple, just a straight-sided cylinder, but it’s all about the light, how it hits the surface and creates a subtle shine. There's a little monogram on the side, inscribed in a circle, and that's where you see the artist really flexing his rendering muscles. I love the extra diagram in the corner, like a technical drawing. It makes me think of Josef Albers’ studies of simple vessels and how he made the ordinary extraordinary through patient observation. There is beauty in simplicity.