Book Bottle c. 1937

Yolande Delasser made this watercolour called 'Book Bottle' and, well, it's a bottle shaped like a book! Look at the way Delasser has rendered this object – it's so playful. The colours blend into each other, creating a mottled effect. It's kind of earthy, you know? Like moss on old stone. I get a real sense of the artist enjoying the process, letting the water do its thing. I love the texture that she has created, the almost random placement of the green against the brown. See the way the paint pools in certain areas, creating darker accents? It’s not trying to be perfect or realistic, it’s more about capturing the feeling of the object. This reminds me a bit of Morandi’s still lifes, but with an added touch of folk art whimsy. Like a conversation between different eras and approaches to artmaking. Ultimately, the work is a reminder that art is open to interpretation, and it’s more about the questions than the answers.