Still Life

Mark Gertler 1891 - 1939

Summary

Impressionistic still life composition of fruit including apples, pears and grapes, positioned with a plain white plate and a blue and green glazed clay jug, against a background of carefully placed blue and lilac drapery. The fruit adorns the drapery and can also be seen emerging from behind it, as with the apple on both sides of the picture. There is a carved statue of a figure behind the plate, distinctly African in style. Next to the statue there is a vase of very bright red flowers. The colours are extremely lively and the brushwork is playful, constructed using short, stuccato movements across the canvas. There is a plane, light brown background. In the book 'Mark Gertler' by John Woodeson in 1972, he wrote "Behind most of the work of this period lies the figure of Cézanne, who now, years after the first Post-Impressionist Exhibition of 1910, came to dominate his work. 'Still Life' showing fruit with a tipped-up plate on a crumpled napkin, is almost a copy of Cézanne".