Candle Snuffer c. 1936

Alfred Walbeck made this watercolour painting of a candle snuffer some time in the late 19th or early 20th century. What strikes me is how he’s approached this everyday object with such care. It's like he's trying to understand its essence through the act of painting. The snuffer has this real sense of weight and form, all achieved with delicate washes of colour. Look at how Walbeck uses the light to define the metal's curves and edges. It's not just about representation; it's about feeling the object, its texture, its presence. The shadow it casts is so subtle, yet it gives the object this grounding, connecting it to the surface, to reality. It reminds me of some of the still life paintings by Giorgio Morandi, a fellow artist who found endless inspiration in simple forms. Ultimately, this painting invites us to slow down, to really see the beauty in the mundane. Art isn't just about grand gestures; it's about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, and Walbeck does that beautifully.