Candlestick 1935 - 1942

Francis Law Durand created this drawing of a candlestick, we don’t know when, with what looks like graphite on paper. What strikes me is the precision here, like a technical drawing but also a portrait of light. The cool grey palette, achieved through delicate gradations of tone, gives the candlestick a ghostly presence. It’s almost as if Durand wasn’t just drawing an object, but capturing the way light reflects and refracts across its surfaces. The attention to detail is amazing. Look at the tiny circles around the base of the candlestick, each one rendered with care. It’s this kind of obsessive mark-making that elevates the work from a mere illustration to something more poetic. It reminds me of the drawings of Vija Celmins, who also transforms everyday objects into things of beauty through the act of close observation. Durand seems to invite us to consider the quiet beauty of the everyday, to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. I find myself wondering about the conversations that can take place between artists across generations and disciplines.