Creamer c. 1937

This small watercolor of a glass creamer was made by Giacinto Capelli, who was born in 1855 and lived until 1995. The overall color scheme is really beautiful, a kind of pale blue-green. This creates a transparent atmosphere that I imagine the artist found compelling. You can see that the artist has concentrated on describing its cylindrical shape and the ridges of the glass. I wonder, was he looking intently at the play of light on its surface? Maybe he enjoyed the quiet, repetitive action of painting all those lines. You can sense the care and time that went into it. This reminds me a little of the still life paintings of Morandi, who also took simple vessels as his subject matter. Artists are always in dialogue with one another, aren't they? They see each other's work, and they are inspired to create. I love how the translucency of the paint adds a sense of delicacy to this everyday object. It’s a reminder that painting is an ongoing experiment in perception and expression, and that there's always something new to discover if you look closely enough.