Silver Mug c. 1936

Michael Fenga made this drawing of a silver mug, though we don’t know exactly when. The drawing is so precise, so delicately shaded, it feels like Fenga isn't just showing us the mug, but almost building it from scratch, line by line. You can tell it was made by hand, can’t you? I can imagine Fenga thinking about what it was like to hold, how light might play across its surface. There’s a real tenderness in those gradations of gray, as he coaxes the form into being with his pencil. There's a simplicity to it, but there's also a quiet grandeur, an echo of the precision of artists like Agnes Martin. What is so special about something so ordinary? It’s like he’s saying, “Look closely, there is magic in the everyday.” And I guess, when it comes down to it, that’s what art is all about.