Sugar Bowl c. 1936

Albert Eyth made this drawing of a sugar bowl, most likely with pencils and watercolour, and it's as much a technical diagram as it is an artistic rendering. Look at how Eyth built the form with these tight strokes of color, a blend of purples, blacks, and browns. There is something very pleasing about the way the physical object has been broken down into something almost abstract. See the way light seems to flicker and skip across the surface of the bowl? It's as if Eyth is showing us not just the object, but his thinking, his process of seeing. Below, a lighter sketch shows the shape in bare outline, complete with measurements. It makes me think of those moments in art when you're balancing precision with intuition. Like, how much do you plan, and how much do you let happen? It’s like a conversation between the hand and the eye, isn't it? Eyth’s approach reminds me a bit of Agnes Martin's quiet but insistent grids. Both artists, in their own way, invite us to slow down and really *see*.