Pitcher c. 1936

Here we see Joseph Sudek’s drawing of a pitcher, rendered with delicate watercolor on paper. The composition is strikingly simple: a clear, glass pitcher centered against a muted background. The pitcher's transparency is suggested through subtle gradations of grey and blue washes, allowing a landscape to appear within its form. Sudek’s approach emphasizes the object's structure and materiality. The thin gold lines which define the rim and base create a semiotic boundary. The drawing plays with notions of visibility and illusion, destabilizing the boundary between object and representation. How can something be present yet transparent? How does the interior scene change our reading of the vessel? The landscape painted within the pitcher, and the pitcher itself, invite reflection on how containers shape our perceptions and interact with their contents. Sudek does not fix meaning but opens up a space for ongoing visual and conceptual exploration.