Wooden Wine Bottle c. 1938

Wilbur Rice rendered this wooden wine bottle with watercolor and graphite. I can imagine him, carefully observing the patterns and color of the wood grain, perhaps intrigued by its cylindrical form, reminiscent of classical columns. Did he choose this object for its simple beauty, or maybe there’s a sense of humor at play? He was probably thinking about surface and volume and how to create that on a flat piece of paper. The bands that wrap around the bottle remind me of the rings on a tree trunk, a metaphor for growth and time. I like to think about how artists, whether trained or self-taught, are constantly looking at the world, translating it through their own lens. It is a visual exchange that spans time and space. It invites us to see the ordinary in new, extraordinary ways.