Galena Big Jug c. 1938

Editor: We’re looking at "Galena Big Jug," a watercolor and charcoal drawing made around 1938 by William Spiecker. It's strikingly… simple, yet something about the curves and shading creates such a strong sense of volume. What aspects of the composition strike you most? Curator: Immediately, I observe the artist’s mastery of form through light and shadow. Notice how the interplay of tonal variations defines the jug’s curvature. Consider also the strategic deployment of "realist" texture. What, though, of the relation between the subject and background – what semiotic cues might we extract from that tension? Editor: That tension… it’s subtle. The way the jug almost blends into the background creates a dreamlike quality. What could it imply? Curator: Perhaps that Spiecker asks us to confront ideas such as the ephemerality of material existence or even notions about memory itself. But consider instead, that the composition emphasizes the *inherent* value of such a simple object. What principles do you see expressed within this "still life?" Editor: The form *is* the subject; not what it contains or its utility. Even though it is just a big, bulbous shape. Its inherent qualities--the coloring, the light reflecting from the glossy material--that’s the art itself. I didn’t realize that could be art, before. Curator: Precisely! This piece encapsulates how careful attention to composition and form alone can reveal the beauty in mundane subject matter. Hopefully now, so too will other objects capture your gaze through such “art-critical” eyes.