Bottle c. 1937

Nicholas Amantea made this lovely, simple watercolour of a bottle. It’s very quiet isn’t it? I can imagine him sitting in a studio, carefully observing this brown glass, and then slowly, methodically, adding layer upon layer to achieve the translucency of glass. It reminds me of Morandi and his bottles. There’s a similar feeling of stillness. The background is untouched, which makes the bottle all the more present. I think he might be onto something here - a way of looking, seeing, and recording the mundane. How fascinating! It’s amazing how artists keep looking and riffing off each other across the ages. Who knew a bottle could be so interesting?