Mourning Ring c. 1937

Here we have John H. Tercuzzi’s drawing, Mourning Ring. The composition is meticulously arranged, distributing the subject in four distinct views across the canvas. Each view offers a unique perspective, emphasizing shape and dimensionality. Tercuzzi isolates and repeats the ring, rendering it as both object and symbol. The choice of gold and ruby is deliberate, creating a semiotic play with wealth, sentimentality, and remembrance, each a signifier of status and emotion. The contrast between the precise linework of the ring's design and the softer rendering of its form suggests a tension between the idealized and the tangible. This creates a powerful representation of loss, where the ring becomes a symbol of what is present and absent. In Tercuzzi's drawing, the ring transcends its material form to become a potent symbol of memory.