The Turpentine Bottle (Primary Title)
Roger de La Fresnaye, French, 1885 - 1925 (Artist)
Despite La Fresnaye’s use of simple geometric forms, several objects—such as the bottle of turpentine, the bundled cloth to the left of the canvas, and the pot of tobacco to the right— are easily recognizable. The artist uses blocks of color in a grid-like composition that set off the horizontal forms of the table from the vertical forms of the wall beyond, creating a sense of depth. Traditionally viewed as a minor genre, still-life painting nonetheless offered modernist artists an ideal medium in which to explore the relationship between the visual perception of the model and the formal qualities of painting.
Not signed.
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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