"Turk's Head" Mold c. 1940

Isadore Goldberg made this drawing of a "Turk's Head" Mold with what looks like watercolor on paper. There’s something super charming about this drawing, because the artist gives the object this real sense of weight and volume with so few marks. I mean, look at the way Goldberg uses these thin washes of brown to suggest the curves and indentations of the mold. The paint is so thin it almost disappears into the paper, but it’s built up just enough to make the object feel real. If you look closely, you can see the little variations in tone, how the color shifts from a warm reddish brown to a cooler grey. It's like he's mapping out the shadows and highlights with tiny, delicate strokes. It reminds me a little of Giorgio Morandi's still life paintings. They share this quiet, contemplative quality, this interest in the subtle nuances of everyday objects. Like Morandi, Goldberg invites us to really look, to see the beauty and complexity in the simplest things.