Pa. German Jar 1937

Eugene Shellady made this rendering of a Pa. German Jar in 1937. He's laid down the watercolor in broad strokes, letting the forms emerge and then set them off with a dry brush. I can feel the artist building up the form, trying to create a sense of volume and weight, like he’s sculpting with the brush. What was Shellady thinking as he painted? How does the dark green glaze feel in his hand? It must have been tricky getting the inscription right, to not lose the handmade quality of the jar. He may have been drawn to the jar as an emblem of home or an object of everyday beauty. It connects him to a legacy of craft passed down through generations. This work joins a dialogue between artists across time, where everyday objects are transformed into carriers of culture. Like Giorgio Morandi, perhaps, who also found endless inspiration in the humble, domestic object. It's a reminder that, in art, the conversation never really ends.