Silver Salver c. 1937

Vincent Carano made this drawing of a silver salver, or platter. Look how the light seems to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at once, a soft glow that makes the metal almost palpable. You can feel the coolness of the silver, the smooth curve of the tray. I imagine Carano spending hours carefully rendering each detail, each ripple and curve, trying to capture the essence of the object. What was he thinking as he drew this? Was he lost in the patterns, the repetition of forms? It reminds me of the way some painters work with glazes, building up layers of translucent color to create a sense of depth and luminosity. Although this is a drawing, it has a painterly quality to it, a sensitivity to the way light interacts with surfaces. It’s a quiet work, but full of subtle observations, speaking to the enduring fascination artists have with the world around them. Each of them is in conversation with those who have come before, responding to and building upon their ideas and techniques.