Covered Rabbit Dish 1935 - 1942

This is George Yanosko’s "Covered Rabbit Dish," made at an unknown date with what looks like pencil on paper. The grayscale is kind of interesting, like a blurry memory. There’s a real tenderness and care in the mark-making, which seems to value process, embracing all the imperfections and erasures along the way. I’m struck by the way Yanosko uses the pencil to create areas of light and shadow on the rabbit and the eggs, which makes it almost look like a photograph. The soft gradations and the delicate hatching give the piece a very subtle, almost ethereal quality. The basket beneath the rabbit is rendered with incredible detail, each woven strand carefully delineated. Look at the way the lines vary in thickness, creating a sense of depth and texture. Yanosko reminds me a bit of Giorgio Morandi who also had a knack for taking simple, everyday objects and making them into something really special. Both artists seem to say that it’s not just about what you see, but how you see it.