Reading Lamp1941

The image shows an antique double kerosene lamp with ornate glass chimneys set atop a horizontal cylindrical base with a central vertical support ending in a circular handle. The base and lamp parts have a bronze-like color with a textured appearance, and the glass chimneys are primarily clear but show hints of colorful reflections. Positioned centrally in the image, the lamp stands upright with the two chimneys equally spaced on either side of the vertical support, which is topped by a circular loop handle, while the signature "J. Cannella" is visible towards the lower right side of the image.

Description from the National Gallery of Art.

Joseph Cannella painted this in 1941, aged 47. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

How it was made

Opaque watercolour

Watercolour made opaque with white or chalk and laid in flat, even layers. Persian and Indian painters ground their colours from minerals, applied them with the finest brushes and burnished the finished page.

Watercolour

Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.

Graphite

Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.

American folk and design

The everyday art of early America, recorded in watercolour by the Index of American Design.

More from American folk and design