Sugar Bowl 1935 - 1942

This watercolor on paper depicts a sugar bowl in simple earth tones, created by Nicholas Amantea. Just imagine him delicately layering the pigment to build up the form, stroke by stroke, trying to capture the objectness of this everyday item. I can feel Amantea’s struggle, you know? The way he’s worked and reworked those dark browns and grays to give shape to the sugar bowl. You can see how he’s thinking, searching for the right line, the perfect shadow. And there’s something so tender about this approach, like he’s trying to understand the object on a deeper level. And that small, square detail in the upper right corner? That’s such a painterly touch, zooming in on the handle as if to say, "Look, this little curve is also important, it contributes to the bowl as a whole!" It’s almost like Amantea is having a conversation with himself, or with us, about how we see and experience the world around us.