Creamer c. 1936

Frank Fumagalli made this watercolor on paper Creamer sometime between 1855 and 1995. It’s such a delicious violet, isn’t it? Look at how the color pools and shifts, especially at the bottom of the creamer where it’s deepest. You can almost feel the wetness of the paint, how Fumagalli let the color bleed into itself, creating these gorgeous variations. The brushstrokes have a loose, almost watery quality, giving the creamer a sense of translucence, like light passing through glass. I love that you can see the marks, the process of building up the color, layer by layer. It reminds me of Morandi’s still lifes. Both artists find something really compelling in humble, everyday objects. There’s a kind of quiet poetry in that, don’t you think? It’s like they’re saying, “Look, even the simplest things can be beautiful if you really see them.” There’s no fixed meaning here, just a space for us to wander and wonder.