Vase c. 1939

Nicholas Amantea made this watercolour on paper sometime in the 20th century. Look at the way he has rendered the vase's surface: it's like he's trying to capture not just the shape but the very feel of the clay. The colour is mostly brown, variations of it, like shades of earth, but there are little light flashes across the surface that suggest the glaze, its shininess. The mark-making is delicate; he’s built up the image in many layers, almost like a pointillist painting but with tones instead of colours. It makes me think of Giorgio Morandi, but with a looser hand. You can imagine Amantea, with his simple tools, patiently building up tone over tone. Notice, how the colour pools at the bottom of the vase. This adds weight, grounding the form and giving the vase a sense of substance. It's quiet, humble, and yet, somehow, so full of attention. This feels like a conversation with tradition, maybe Chardin, but filtered through a very personal, intimate lens.