Pitcher c. 1936

Henry Granet drew this pitcher with what looks like graphite on paper. I am really drawn to this drawing's use of shading and line. It reminds me of how I approach painting, one mark at a time, building up the image through layers. Look at the way Granet uses delicate, almost imperceptible gradations to give the pitcher its form. The surface is so smooth, like polished metal. But then you see the little sketch at the bottom, the artist's notes, revealing the process, the careful measuring, the second go at the jug. It's like seeing the artist thinking, working through the problem of how to represent this object. It feels like a quiet conversation between the artist and the object, each line a response to the thing itself, a kind of slow looking. This makes me think of Morandi, his still lifes, how he kept returning to the same objects, each time finding something new to say. Art isn't about answers, it's about the questions we ask.