Baptismal Font c. 1936

George Seideneck made this watercolor painting of a baptismal font on paper. It's like he's conjuring the object into being. The font emerges from a mist of pinks and browns with delicate pencil strokes, and it’s got this otherworldly glow like a memory or a dream. I wonder what Seideneck was thinking as he painted, trying to capture not just the physical presence of the font, but also its spiritual weight? I think he was drawing on the physicality of the object to suggest the weight of tradition. I see how the octagonal base tapers upwards to the circular bowl. He’s really into these repeating shapes and patterns, like the tiny teeth around the rim. Painters have always borrowed and stolen from each other, passing on and transforming ideas across generations. This drawing reminds me that art isn’t made in a vacuum. It’s an exchange between the artist, the subject, and everyone who’s ever picked up a brush or pencil.