Urn Design c. 1940

This is Charles Goodwin’s design for an Urn, and it has been carefully rendered with pencil and watercolor. I wonder how long it took Goodwin to arrive at this design. The kind of drawing suggests he was interested in the material and structural properties of the urn. I like how the work is both representational, depicting the object, and abstract, showing us a formal study with its own shapes and lines. The base undulates with repeated curves in a way that reminds me of a textile or weaving pattern, grounding the more expansive form above it. I can see a dialogue here between architecture and design. It makes me think about the function of ornament, how that decoration gives a human quality to an otherwise functional object. Painting, like design, requires a constant back and forth between the idea and the material form, which brings it into being. I feel like Goodwin is in conversation with artists throughout time. I’m sure his design would have inspired others in turn.