Blown Glass 1935 - 1942

Curator: Alvin Shiren created this watercolor drawing, "Blown Glass," sometime between 1935 and 1942. Editor: Ah, it looks like a fragile tear about to drop! So delicate. There's this almost mournful quality to the soft blue watercolor. Curator: Indeed. The application of watercolor here is quite deliberate, especially considering the artist is trying to capture the inherent transparency of glass itself. There's an inherent challenge there – how to render something defined by its lack of defined surface. Editor: It's kind of funny when you think about it: capturing absence in form, if you know what I mean. But even as a still life, there’s this beautiful sense of capturing something very alive about the breath and movement involved in its making. The curvature has so much presence! Curator: I find that Shiren's choice of glass as a subject is rather compelling. Glass, both as a medium of artistic expression and a ubiquitous industrial material, reflects broader economic conditions. The mass production of glass objects and their affordability speak to shifts in consumption patterns during the early to mid-20th century. Editor: Okay, true, and this adds to its almost humble effect. It reminds me how, back in art school, we'd try and emulate high-end glassblowing on the cheap. Always chasing that elusive transparency! Maybe that struggle makes me see the intention behind Shiren's drawing even more. There's the reality, and then there's the longing for the craft. Curator: A very apt point, emphasizing the gap between accessibility and the aspiration for craftsmanship inherent in the art itself. Editor: Makes me wanna blow some glass. Or just, you know, stare intensely at a beautiful tear drop again. What about you? Curator: This was quite fascinating, especially pondering the socioeconomic reflections imbued into what initially appeared like a very unassuming piece.