Jardiniere c. 1936

Frank Fumagalli made this watercolor drawing of a jardiniere, sometime in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century. The sepia tones and the light brushstrokes suggest this was probably made to document some factory’s production, or perhaps as a proposal for manufacture. But you can also see the artist really engaging with the material, clay, and the objects themselves. It's a sensitive rendering of the object, look at the light and shadow on the lip of the vase or the base, and how it’s reflected. I wonder, was it a slow, meditative process for the artist to spend so much time with this form? The details feel so specific – the ruffled edge, the handles. It also feels symbolic, like a trophy. There is a conversation happening between Fumagalli and the artisans, an exchange of ideas across time, each inspiring the other's creativity. Painting embraces this kind of ambiguity. In the end it's really a celebration of form.