Silver Spoon 1935 - 1942

Nicholas Zupa made this pencil drawing of two spoons sometime around 1936, maybe even here in the City Museum of New York. What I find so compelling is how Zupa coaxes such subtle variations in tone and texture from a humble graphite pencil. Look closely, and you can see the soft gradations, the way the light seems to curve and reflect off the spoon’s surfaces. It’s like he’s trying to capture not just the shape of the object, but its essence, its very being. I think the spoon on the right is particularly fascinating; how Zupa has created this kind of ghostly shadow. It really invites you to contemplate the spoon as an object. Zupa’s work reminds me a bit of Giorgio Morandi, who spent his life painting the same bottles over and over again. Both artists seem to find endless fascination in the simple, everyday objects that surround us, and to ask questions about how we see, and what it means to truly look at something. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t always have to be about grand gestures or profound statements; sometimes, it’s enough to simply pay attention.