Crock c. 1937

Yolande Delasser painted this 'Crock' with watercolor and graphite on paper. Looking at it, I imagine Yolande carefully observing the object, trying to capture the rough texture and the subtle gradations of color on its surface. You can almost feel the weight and solidity of the crock through the way she’s rendered the form. The washes of brown and the smudges of blue seem to describe the way the light hits the object, revealing its history and use. The choice of watercolor gives it an ephemeral feeling, like a memory or a fleeting impression. Maybe she was thinking about the tradition of still life painting, or maybe she just wanted to honor the beauty of this everyday object. Painters like Delasser are in a constant dialogue with the world around them and with each other, translating their experiences into marks and colors that speak to something deeper. It’s this conversation across time and space that makes painting so endlessly fascinating.