Lamp with Shade c. 1938

Charles Caseau’s ‘Lamp with Shade’ is a study in delicate tones and soft forms made with watercolor and graphite. I imagine Caseau hunched over a table, squinting at the lamp and then back at the paper. I can almost feel the graphite between my fingers, smudging and blending to get the tone just right. Those clusters of grapes look like they were created with a tiny brush, each little circle rendered with care. And that golden accent at the base of the lampshade—a tiny burst of opulence! It reminds me of a Morandi painting—all of those muted colors create a sense of stillness. And just like Morandi, Caseau is finding something marvelous in the mundane. The lamp probably sat in a house, unassumingly, and then Caseau chose it as his muse. That’s the thing about artists, isn't it? We see the world a little differently.