Hand Lantern c. 1938

Joseph Rothenberg created this "Hand Lantern," and you can see how carefully he’s rendered each plane of the form, almost like he’s building it from scratch in watercolor. I imagine Rothenberg hunched over this piece, slowly, painstakingly, adding layers to build tone and shadow. He's really precise, yet somehow, it doesn't feel stiff. Look at the way the light hits the wood and the metallic top. You can almost feel the coolness of the metal versus the warmth of the wood. It's like he's inviting us into his own private world of observation, to really examine the way light behaves. I think Joseph Rothenberg has a good eye; you can see how he’s paying attention to the light source, and you can see the effects of it on the surfaces. It’s very poetic and calm. Artists do that for each other, always.