Whale Oil Lamp c. 1940

William O. Fletcher made this study of a Whale Oil Lamp, likely with watercolor, perhaps as a record. Look at how he teases out all the variations in tone, from the brown umber and grey base to the warm highlights on the lamp itself. It’s a pretty unassuming picture, but he really dwells on the form, giving it this quiet luminosity, and that, I think, is what makes it sing. You can feel the light, both reflected and emerging from the lamp itself, as if its quiet and reserved surface barely contains some inner radiance. That subtle modelling of tone – it reminds me a little of Giorgio Morandi’s still life paintings, the way he could make a whole composition out of very muted colors. Fletcher has that same quality of intense looking and careful observation. It’s about noticing the subtle differences and allowing the painting to slowly find its form. There’s no drama, but plenty of nuance!