Stone Pitcher c. 1938

Isabelle De Strange made this watercolor drawing of a Stone Pitcher sometime in the 20th century, and right away, you notice her sensitivity to the medium. The way the colors blend and bleed into each other, it’s like she's letting the water do half the work. The texture is so smooth, almost like looking at a photograph, but then you get closer, and you see these incredibly subtle variations in tone, especially in the blues of the floral design. Look at how she handles the crack near the base; it’s not just a line, but a whole little valley of shadow and light. That one little detail brings the whole drawing to life. This drawing reminds me a little of Giorgio Morandi, with his quiet meditations on bottles and jars. But where Morandi is all about stillness and geometry, De Strange has this lovely looseness, a real feeling for the everyday beauty of the world. It’s a good reminder that art doesn’t always have to shout to be heard.