Jug c. 1937

Nicholas Amantea made this drawing of a jug with what looks like watercolor or gouache on paper. The colors are muted, like they've been sitting in the sun for a long time, bleached out almost, but still rich. Look how the brushstrokes follow the curve of the jug, building up its roundness, its volume. The paint is thin, washy, which gives it this soft, dreamy quality. I love the little flower-like decorations near the top, how they're not perfect, not symmetrical, but have this hand-done charm. There's a dark patch on the front of the jug. It's like a shadow or a stain, something that suggests use, history. It reminds me a bit of Giorgio Morandi’s still-life paintings, with their quiet, meditative focus on everyday objects. Amantea shows us how even the simplest things, like a jug, can be beautiful, can hold stories, can be worthy of our attention. It makes me wonder what stories this jug could tell, what it held, who used it.