Sugar Bowl with Cover c. 1936

A. Zaidenberg made this watercolor of a sugar bowl with a cover sometime between 1855 and 1995. I imagine it might have come into being gradually, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Zaidenberg! I know what it's like to wrestle with capturing something three-dimensional on a two-dimensional surface. What might they have been thinking when they made it? They probably asked themselves similar questions: How do I capture the play of light on the surface? How do I create a sense of depth and volume with just a few colors? The paint here is applied in thin washes, allowing the color of the paper to subtly influence the final effect. I think of Morandi and his still life paintings. There is this quality of stillness. It's as if the artist is inviting us to slow down and contemplate the quiet beauty of everyday objects. In that spirit, I will let Zaidenberg's watercolor of a simple sugar bowl be a reminder of the potential for art to elevate the ordinary into something extraordinary.