Whale Oil Lamp c. 1938

Charles Caseau made this drawing of a whale oil lamp sometime in the 20th century with pencil on paper, carefully attending to the object’s form. The drawing’s got a kind of quiet confidence. See how the pencil lines build up slowly, creating these subtle shifts in tone? It’s all about process, a gentle layering that mimics the way light might actually play across the lamp’s surface. The circles on the globe look like little eyes, staring out. Caseau really understands his medium. He coaxes a sense of weight and volume from simple graphite. The base feels solid, grounded, while the globe on top has this delicate, almost ethereal quality. I love the way he captures the lamp’s transparency, those subtle gradations that suggest light passing through glass. It reminds me of Giorgio Morandi, another artist who found endless inspiration in humble, everyday objects. With Caseau, like Morandi, it’s a meditation on form, light, and the simple beauty of things. It’s a reminder that art isn’t about grand gestures, but about seeing deeply.