Still Life with Narcissus and Mirror 1940

Theodor Pallady made this still life with oil paint, at a time when artists were really exploring how to represent the world around them. The texture of the paint is so present here, like he's building up the forms with these little dabs and strokes. Look at the banana, for instance – it’s not just yellow; it's got all these layers of colour that give it depth. It's so casual but considered, all at the same time. The way he handles the surface is so straightforward. You can see the brushstrokes, the direction he moved the paint. It’s honest. And that mirror – it’s almost like a portal, reflecting back at us, but also holding this dark, unknowable space. Pallady’s got this way of pulling from the past but making it feel super fresh. You see a lot of Cezanne in here, but it has Pallady's own quiet voice. It’s like he's saying, 'Let's look closely, let's really see the stuff that's right in front of us.'