Sauce Pan c. 1937

Edward L. Loper made this painting of a saucepan with what looks like watercolour. The way the paint is layered creates a sense of depth, but there is something quite flat and graphic about the approach to this piece. It’s as if the artist has distilled the essence of this everyday object. The surface is quite smooth, with thin washes of colour building up the form of the saucepan, from a dark bowl and thin legs to a long thin handle with a tiny circle at the end. Look at the way Loper captures the subtle gradations of light and shadow. See the way that pale shadow under the pan is so delicately rendered. There’s a beautiful tension between the object's utilitarian nature and the artist's careful observation. This piece reminds me of Giorgio Morandi’s still life paintings, where humble objects are transformed into contemplative studies of form, colour and light.