Lantern c. 1940

Rose Campbell-Gerke made this drawing of a Lantern with what looks like graphite or watercolor. The way she’s handled the color, it's not about showing off. It's more like she’s feeling her way through the object. I like how the layers of tone create a sense of depth, especially in the shadows around the handle. It makes the lantern feel like it has weight, like it’s something you could pick up and use. I love the little flecks of color around the page, like a kind of incidental residue of the process of artmaking. It reminds me a little of Giorgio Morandi’s still lifes, because he also made so many paintings of bottles and pots. But Morandi was more concerned with light and form, whereas Rose seems more interested in the object itself, the story it tells. It’s a reminder that art is often more about asking questions than providing answers.