Salt Cellar c. 1936

John Dana’s rendering of a salt cellar is made with graphite and watercolor on paper. Imagine Dana’s hand moving across the paper, carefully marking the intricate patterns of the glass. I think he’s trying to capture not just the shape but the way light plays on this object. You know, when light hits glass it bounces around and creates an ethereal, almost surreal effect. It’s like Dana is thinking: how do you capture something so fleeting and transform it into something permanent? The translucence of the watercolor helps to suggest the crystalline nature of the glass, yet the drawing remains a two-dimensional representation. The way the image is composed is interesting; with two images of the glass object as if Dana is trying to capture all angles of the vessel. Each stroke seems to reveal something new about the object, and in turn, reveals Dana’s inner thoughts and feelings. This is a beautiful drawing.