Glass 1935 - 1942

This is V.L. Vance’s watercolor painting, “Glass.” Born in the mid-19th century, Vance lived through a time marked by rapid industrialization and shifting social norms, especially for women. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, women were increasingly involved in arts and crafts, often as a means of self-expression and economic independence. Vance’s delicate rendering of the glass focuses on its form and texture rather than its function. The choice of such an everyday object as a subject elevates the mundane and transforms the overlooked into something worthy of artistic attention. This reminds me of a quote by Virginia Woolf, "It is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes makes its way to the surface." What emerges in this piece is not just an image of a glass, but a reflection on the beauty that can be found in simplicity, an echo of the quiet revolutions of women finding their voice through art.