Two Spouted Torch c. 1942

William Frank made this watercolour of a Two Spouted Torch, we don't know exactly when. But you can see how, with just a few colours, Frank gets the form and surface of this metal object just so. Look how he uses small brushstrokes to suggest the way light hits the rounded form of the torch. See that chain, just hanging there? It’s like Frank is saying, “Hey, this isn’t just a thing, it’s got a story.” The colour palette is all earthy browns, but it’s not dull. There’s a shimmer, a liveliness that makes you feel like you could pick this thing up. I think of Giorgio Morandi, with his still life paintings. Like Morandi, Frank transforms the mundane into something meaningful, finding beauty in the everyday. Art is always this conversation, right?