Silver Tumbler c. 1937

Hester Duany made this drawing, Silver Tumbler, with graphite on paper. Look at how Duany teases out the silvery sheen of the tumbler through delicate gradations of grey. It's like she's feeling her way around the form, gently coaxing it into being. There’s something humble and quietly radical about this drawing. It's just a humble tumbler, but rendered with such care and attention. Notice how the subtle shifts in tone evoke the play of light on the metal surface, especially the way she captures the reflective quality around the rim, and the darker shadows within. It reminds me a little bit of Giorgio Morandi, who spent his whole life painting the same bottles over and over again. He found endless variation and depth in these everyday objects, just like Duany does here. Art is not always about spectacle, it's about looking closely and finding beauty in the ordinary.