Green Glass Flask c. 1940

V.L. Vance made this watercolor of two green glass flasks sometime during their long life. Imagine Vance, patiently layering these thin washes of green on paper, building up the flasks’ translucent bodies. The almost identical forms are each subtly different, alive. One has an eagle, the other a bird, probably a dove, each caught mid-flight. Vance must have looked carefully at the real objects, and then, thoughtfully, added the tone and the shadows. The restraint in the strokes makes me think of the work of Giorgio Morandi, who made art of the everyday bottle, and was devoted to the practice of looking. Perhaps, like Morandi, Vance was trying to convey a sense of quiet contemplation. In a world often filled with noise, painting stills our gaze and encourages a deeper seeing. These two birds remind me of the conversations between artists across time and place, each taking flight in their own way.