Bottle c. 1937

Janet Riza made this drawing of a bottle, and we can really appreciate its design and the artist's skillful use of watercolor. The rendering beautifully captures the light as it plays across the glass, emphasizing the bottle’s form and texture. Look closely and you’ll see how Riza used soft, translucent layers of color to give the bottle its luminous quality, with the darker shades creating depth in the recessed areas of the relief. It’s tempting to consider the social context in which the bottle would have been produced, blown in a factory from molten glass in a labor-intensive process. The repeating floral patterns suggest the industrial reproduction and aesthetic value of the objects. Ultimately, this drawing invites us to consider the material qualities of the bottle, its production, and the skilled artistry involved in capturing its essence on paper. It challenges any divide between decorative and fine art.