Candlestick c. 1937

John Dana made this drawing of a ‘Candlestick’ sometime during his lifetime that stretched from 1855 to 1995. Imagine him there, in front of the easel, carefully choosing the shades for that smooth, rounded base in a deep green. It’s so precisely done! The way the stem rises, almost disappearing into a clear, barely-there gray, it makes you think about light itself. He probably knew that to paint light is really to paint shadow. I love how the top flares out in that translucent red, like the glass is catching the sun. It reminds me of some of Giorgio Morandi’s still lifes – that same quiet attention to the object, where the humblest object is cause for reverence. It's like a painter's meditation, really. When you look at art, or make art, you start to see differently. You see a conversation that spans centuries. Dana’s ‘Candlestick’ reminds us that even the simplest forms can hold a universe of feeling and thought.