Tankard c. 1938

Here's a painted Tankard, made by Irving L. Biehn. When an artist makes a painting of a mug, it’s a sign of seeing potential beauty in the everyday. I wonder what it was like for Biehn, sitting there, observing all the small details of the mug's wooden form. It looks like he built up the image slowly, defining the cylindrical shape of the tankard with delicate layers of brown and tan. I like how the subtle shading gives the simple, functional object a kind of quiet dignity. You know, paintings about objects have been around forever. Think of Chardin's humble kitchenware, or Morandi’s meditative bottles. Each of them finds something poetic in the ordinary. Each artist is in conversation with the other, opening up a whole new way of seeing the world around them.