Toilet or Perfume Bottle c. 1940

Here we have Janet Riza’s watercolour painting, ‘Toilet or Perfume Bottle’, of undetermined date. It looks like the artist painted it in layers, with strokes of different purple shades to make the surface shimmer. I’m drawn to the way the light seems to move across the glass, almost like a dance. You can almost feel the roundness of the bottle. Look at the base; see how the artist layered darker purples? It gives the bottle weight, makes it feel like it's sitting solid. Then, up top, the colours get lighter, more transparent. There is a tension between the simple shape and the intricate patterns of light and texture, which really brings the work to life. This piece reminds me of some of Giorgio Morandi’s still life paintings, because of the interest in light and shadow. Like Morandi, Riza transforms everyday objects into something special, something worth looking at, and pondering. Art isn’t about answers, it's about questions.