Flask c. 1936

John Dana made this "Flask" with I think watercolor and graphite. Can't you just see him, patiently building up the plum-colored hues, layer after layer? I feel for the artist here, they are meticulously rendering every facet and curve of the glass. The graphite under-drawing peeks through, giving it a kind of cool, restrained energy. Dana’s got these tiny dots clustered on the upper half of the vessel, which makes me think of the Impressionists, and then the sharp vertical lines bring in this Art Deco feel. The way Dana focuses on the reflective qualities of glass makes me think about the way light can transform a simple object into something really special. I wonder, could this painting be a tiny act of defiance against fleeting time? I mean, artists borrow from each other all the time, riffing and remixing.