Silver Tea Caddy c. 1937

Nicholas Zupa made this drawing of a silver tea caddy, using what looks like graphite on paper. It’s a simple subject, but I find myself drawn to the subtle gradations of tone, like a quiet meditation on form and light. The drawing feels so delicate and precise, yet it’s also clear that it was made by hand, you know? Look closely, and you can see the individual marks, the way the artist built up the shadows to give the caddy its volume. It makes me think about the way we look at things, how we can find beauty in the everyday if we just slow down and pay attention. The texture almost feels like metal, you can imagine how cold the piece must be. It reminds me a bit of some of the early modernist still life paintings, where artists were trying to capture the essence of an object rather than just creating a realistic representation. Artists like Morandi, perhaps. But where he used paint, Zupa uses the humble graphite pencil, in a different dialogue across time, where simplicity speaks volumes.