Mortar and Pestle c. 1938

Ralph Morton, who lived a long life from 1855 to 1995, made this simple drawing of a mortar and pestle without any indication of when, or with what. The limited palette of browns and beiges gives it the feeling of an old photograph, or an illustration from a textbook. But it's also more than that. Look at the detail on the pestle itself, the way the artist has rendered the texture of the wood with tiny strokes of the pen. It feels almost like he's trying to capture the essence of the object, not just its appearance. The drawing style reminds me a little of the work of Giorgio Morandi, who also spent his career painting simple, everyday objects, exploring the beauty and complexity of the mundane. Like Morandi, Morton invites us to slow down and really see the world around us, to appreciate the simple things that often go unnoticed. And as with all good art, there's a certain ambiguity here, a sense that there's more to this drawing than meets the eye. It could just be a simple record, but I think it's something more profound.