Brass Oil Lamp c. 1939

This is Russell Madole’s ‘Brass Oil Lamp’. It’s hard to tell when it was made, but looking at the colour and tone, it’s like a memory. It's so interesting how Madole uses the watercolour to build up the form of the lamp, the shades of gold and brown seem to glow. The light isn’t represented as light, but as colour. It makes you realize that seeing and painting are about so much more than optical accuracy. If you look closely at the base, you can see the brushstrokes overlapping and blending, creating a sense of depth and volume. And then there's that little handle, kind of awkward, kind of charming, like a tiny sculpture on its own. The whole thing is just so earnest and straightforward. It reminds me a bit of Giorgio Morandi, who also found endless inspiration in the simplest of objects. Art’s funny like that, always finding new ways to look at the same old things.