Lantern 1935 - 1942

E.J. Gilsleider made this watercolor drawing of a lantern, and it looks like it’s from sometime in the 20th century. I wonder about the artist, working intently, trying to get the shape of the glass just right, how it seems to almost glow. They are playing with rendering light and shadow. And look at how they captured the metallic parts with that silvery grey. There’s such a calmness to the drawing. It makes me think about the kind of focus you need to really see something and then translate it onto paper. It also makes me think about still life painting in general. The way artists have always been drawn to everyday objects, finding beauty and meaning in the simplest of things. It reminds me a little of Giorgio Morandi, who spent his whole life painting bottles. I bet Gilsleider would have been happy to know we're still looking at his lantern, all these years later. It’s like we’re having a conversation with him through this drawing, a quiet exchange of ideas about light, shape, and seeing.