Salt Shaker c. 1936

This is Henry Meyers' drawing of a salt shaker, made at an unknown date, with graphite on paper. Look at the gradations of tone, the way the light seems to caress the metal form. There's a real sensitivity to surface here that speaks to an intimate knowledge of the object, an understanding born through close looking and careful rendering. You can almost feel the cool smoothness of the metal beneath your fingertips. The drawing has a subtle texture, the graphite softly catching the light. Notice how the hatching marks define the curvature of the shaker, lending it a sense of depth and volume. The small, almost diagrammatic representation in the lower part of the image lends the whole piece a scientific quality. It reminds me a little of the work of Giorgio Morandi, another artist who found endless inspiration in humble, everyday objects. Ultimately, it's a celebration of the beauty and complexity that can be found in the most ordinary of things.