Glass Perfume Bottle c. 1939

Isabelle De Strange made this rendering of a glass perfume bottle in watercolor; the exact date isn’t known. What strikes me here is the way she’s handled the red, achieving a sense of depth and light with a limited palette. Looking at the bottle’s surface, you can see how De Strange uses the paper's texture to suggest the glass’s imperfections. The color isn’t flat; there are subtle variations that imply the roundness of the bottle, the play of light on its surface. The white dots, they aren't just decoration, they create the illusion of three-dimensionality. Check out the base of the bottle - see how the red deepens, grounding the object, giving it weight. It puts me in mind of Morandi, who could spend a lifetime painting the subtle differences between bottles. Both artists remind us that the everyday can be a source of endless fascination.