First half of the 20th century Canvas, oil. 78 x 64 cm
Description The floral still life is an example of the artist's early period, around the 1920s. This is indicated by the broad, sketchy manner of painting, the shaded brushstroke, the absence of hard contrasting lines and clear contours of objects (this will appear in his work later). The composition of the picture is somewhat chaotic, without a clear pattern or structure. The tone of the painting is light, even, slightly pastel. The overall orange-emerald coloring is carefully harmonized. And pink and purple accents create a strong decorative effect. These features of composition, color and painting style bring the still life closer to the works of other French artists, to the Nabi group and, especially, to the painting of Pierre Bonnard.
The materials of the painting also indicate its early origins. The still life is painted on a thin, but very high-quality and, apparently, expensive fine-grained canvas. The soil is ready-made, factory-made. The stretcher is also factory-made, standard, not sliding - “French”, characteristic of French painting of the first quarter of the 20th century. On the back of the stretcher there is a fragment of an old, turn-of-the-century label filled in by the artist's hand.