Pewter Water Pitcher 1936

This drawing represents a pewter water pitcher, and was completed by Arsen Maralian. The monochromatic rendering, built from subtle gradations of tone, gives the object a sculptural presence against the flat ground of the paper. What is most compelling here is the relationship between the pitcher and the diagrammatic sketch in the lower right corner. It serves as a kind of deconstruction, reducing the object to its essential lines and measurements. This reveals an underlying structure, a set of geometric relationships that constitute the pitcher’s form. Maralian invites us to see beyond the object's surface appearance, to grasp the abstract system that governs its design. Ultimately, the drawing becomes a meditation on representation itself, exploring the tension between observation and abstraction, and the ways in which we construct meaning through visual systems.