Jug 1937

George Loughridge made this watercolour jug painting at an unknown date. There’s a quietness to the way he’s rendered this jug, a kind of loving attention. I’m thinking about how Loughridge builds up the form with thin washes of color. It’s all about light and shadow, creating volume on a flat surface. The brushstrokes seem soft, almost tentative, as if he’s gently coaxing the jug into being. I can almost feel the texture of the paper, the way the pigment settles into the fibers. He probably stood there with his little brushes thinking about painting the shadows. And what about the rust stain? Did he choose to leave it in? It reminds me that painting is an act of conversation, with the object, with the medium, and with the history of art itself. Loughridge is in dialogue with a long tradition of still life, but he’s also bringing his unique sensibility to the table. It’s this interplay between tradition and individuality that makes painting so endlessly fascinating.