Crock c. 1939

Nicholas Amantea made this drawing of a crock sometime in the early to mid 20th century, and it's rendered in a pale, almost faded palette that gives it a ghostly presence. The brushstrokes are soft, blending the edges of the object into its background so it’s less about hard lines and more about feeling the object in space. I love how Amantea captures the slight irregularities in the crock's surface, those subtle shifts in color and texture. The decoration on the front looks almost like a ghostly figure, a kind of ethereal botanical form, rendered in soft blues. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the paper, building up the image layer by layer, letting the imperfections become part of the overall feel. Look closely and you can see where the washes of color pool and gather, creating shadows and highlights that give the piece a sense of depth and volume. It reminds me a bit of Giorgio Morandi, with that same interest in the quiet beauty of everyday objects. Like Morandi, Amantea finds something profound in the mundane, elevating it through careful observation and gentle mark-making.