Chopping Knife c. 1941

Nicholas Amantea made this watercolor of a "Chopping Knife" at an unknown date, but it could be anytime between 1900-1978, the years of his life. It’s so beautifully rendered, with such care. I mean, you can almost feel the weight of the object, like it is waiting to be picked up again. There is a tension in the work. Amantea seems really interested in how to render something heavy with a light touch. The artist really loves this object, right? You can see him building up the layers of color to create the rust on the blade, that feeling of age and use. And that handle – like a piece of dark, polished wood. It’s interesting to think about the history of painting itself, and all the different hands that have held a brush. Each artist is in conversation with the ones who came before, each mark building on the last.