Crock c. 1937

Yolande Delasser made this simple watercolour of a Crock at an unknown date. The painting depicts two versions of the same object: one a delicate line drawing, the other a more substantial rendering in washes of warm brown and strokes of vibrant blue. I can imagine Delasser carefully studying this utilitarian object, considering how to capture its essence on paper. I see her trying to extract the object's shape with the top drawing and then trying to communicate a sense of its heft and texture with the bottom drawing. Notice how the blue design, a stylized botanical form and the stamped text '& L.P. NORTON BENNINGTON. VT.' are echoed in both drawings, connecting the two. This almost feels like a study sheet: two versions of the same thing, as if Delasser wanted to explore the multiple ways of depicting an object. Delasser takes something ordinary and elevates it through the act of close observation and careful rendering, like Morandi with his bottles, or, in a similar vein, Agnes Martin with her grids. The simple act of painting becomes a way of seeing and knowing the world.