Spice Jar c. 1937

John Matulis made this watercolor of a spice jar, and well, it’s just so darn cozy! There’s a warmth here, a kind of comforting brownness, that makes you want to reach out and touch it. Look how Matulis teases out the texture of the jar, that mottled surface like the skin of an orange. He's not trying to trick us into thinking this is a real jar; it's more like he's inviting us to consider the *idea* of a spice jar. The light seems to dance across the surface, creating a sense of depth and volume. And then there are those quirky, hand-drawn curlicues – not quite letters, not quite decoration, just… there. They remind me of doodles, those little subconscious marks we make when we're lost in thought. This piece feels like a cousin to the work of Giorgio Morandi, who spent his whole life painting the same bottles and vases over and over. It’s a reminder that art isn’t always about grand gestures; sometimes, it’s about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.