Still Life 1932

Burgoyne Diller made this still life drawing sometime in the 1930s using graphite on paper. It's like he was thinking about how a still life usually sets up a cozy scene, then said, "Nah, let's make it weird." I’m thinking about Diller's mark-making, how he seemed to embrace the awkwardness of the subject. It’s not soft and gentle but full of hard edges, creating a sense of unease. Imagine Diller in his studio, squinting at the plant and lemons, wondering how to translate them into something that feels both familiar and alien. The shading is dense and the angles are sharp. Is it a window or a painting in the background? It reminds me of other artists playing with geometry, maybe even the early abstract expressionists—but with a strange twist. It's this kind of off-kilter perspective that keeps the conversation going, each artist riffing on what came before, making the familiar strange and opening up new ways of seeing.