Candlestick c. 1937

This is Phillip Johnson’s drawing of a candlestick, and the way he’s handled the brassy color with such precision gives the piece a glow. Imagine him bending over this drawing, trying to get all the details right. What was he thinking? Is he perhaps an architect working in the International Style, someone who appreciated functional objects? Look how this echoes the simple forms they used in their buildings. The way he shades each plane of the hexagonal base feels exact, almost labored over. And off to the side, a ghost of a drawing, like an echo. It makes me think about the relationship between the ephemeral and the lasting. How we, as artists, are constantly in conversation with the past, borrowing and transforming. It’s this beautiful chain of influence, and Johnson's drawing is a little flicker in that ongoing exchange.