Green Glass Flask c. 1940

V.L. Vance made this drawing of two green glass flasks using what looks like pencil and watercolor. I love the way the artist uses the paper, letting it peek through the washes of green, creating a sense of transparency. It's as if the color is applied so gently, it’s barely there, like a memory of green. There’s something quite satisfying about the symmetry here, two flasks mirroring each other, each with a different bird on its surface, an eagle and a dove. I wonder if the artist was thinking about duality, or perhaps the flasks are two sides of the same story? Look how the delicate, dotted border around the flasks gives it an almost dreamlike quality, the texture so soft, it feels like a whisper. It reminds me a bit of the early work of Giorgio Morandi, with its subdued palette and focus on everyday objects. But where Morandi's paintings are all about stillness and contemplation, Vance's drawing feels more playful, more alive. And isn't that what art is all about, seeing the world in a new and unexpected way?