Economy Redware Pitcher c. 1937

Ralph Atkinson painted this Economy Redware Pitcher at some point in his life using umber and white oil paint to render a humble, utilitarian object. I'm imagining Ralph closely studying this pitcher, really looking at how the light hits that curved surface, how the dark brown morphs into these shiny, almost creamy highlights. You know, painting something like this, it's like you're having a conversation with it. Ralph is seeing, translating, feeling. He’s probably thinking about the history of painting itself – Chardin, Morandi, all those still-life masters. But he’s also thinking about American folk art, about the beauty in simple things. That's what painting is all about. It's a dialogue across time, a way of seeing that gets passed down, tweaked, and reinterpreted. It's never really about the object; it's about the way we look.