Crock c. 1940

Isadore Goldberg made this design for a crock using ink and watercolor. I can imagine him carefully outlining each shape, the brush dancing across the paper, building layer upon layer of blue. I wonder what he was thinking as he was working? Maybe he was imagining the crock filled with pickles! He’s capturing something about the relationship between craft and industry. The dark blue floral design seems to echo folk art motifs and yet there is an industrial feel in the way the design is planned to go on the crock. Look at how the line thickens and thins, creating a sense of depth. It’s like he’s trying to make something both decorative and functional, both handmade and mass-produced. Goldberg and artists like him remind us that art doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It's a conversation across time and between makers.