Candlestick c. 1937

This small painting of a candlestick by John Dana is rendered in shades of green on paper. The candlestick emerges through gentle gradations of tone and color; it's been built up, bit by bit, like the slow growth of a plant, or like a three-dimensional rendering built up, line by line, by a computer program. I can imagine Dana hunched over this, carefully studying the play of light on the glass, the slow build-up of dark against light, the way the planes resolve in the eye. It's a real deep-dive into the qualities of this weirdly compelling object. I want to compare this to Morandi and his bottles. There's something about taking everyday objects and inviting us to contemplate them which helps us to look at the world around us differently. It's a quiet revolution that starts with how we see. Dana is in that same conversation, making us slow down and see the light.