Cup and saucer from a tea service c. 1928

This cup and saucer, made by Margarete Heymann, sits there like a smooth, silent sculpture. The simple, pale surface makes me think about the idea of restraint. I’m imagining Margarete Heymann in her studio, coaxing these shapes out of clay, patiently building up the form, maybe thinking about the Bauhaus. The handle, with its almost cartoonish roundness, feels like a quiet act of rebellion against all that functionalism. I love how such a small object can hold so much history and intention. The smooth matte surface just wants to be touched. It’s as if the artist is quietly whispering, ‘Here is something useful, but also something to contemplate.’ It makes me think of the work of Lucie Rie, who similarly elevated the everyday into something transcendent. Artists have always been in conversation with each other, building on ideas and pushing boundaries. Heymann and Rie, for example, may never have met, but their work speaks to a shared understanding of material and form. I like how painting, like all art forms, is a kind of conversation across time and space, where ideas keep bubbling up and morphing in unexpected ways.