Jam Jar and Apples 1904

Here is the plain text audio guide script about Jam Jar and Apples by Igor Grabar: Igor Grabar made this still life of jam jars and apples with thick strokes of oil paint. I love how the world comes into being through the act of painting itself. It's like a slow reveal, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Grabar, imagining his studio, the light, the smell of the oil paint, and the sweet scent of ripe fruit. The paint is applied so thickly it almost becomes the objects it represents. The whites of the table cloth are like a landscape of snow. You can almost feel the weight of the glass jars. Look at the way he dabs the paint to render the apples. It is like an accumulation of feeling. There is such an exchange of ideas across time through the simple act of painting. I think of Cezanne and Chardin, and of all the paintings yet to come that will be inspired by this one. Painting is an ongoing conversation, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty and allowing for multiple interpretations.