Still life with Table 1906

Still Life with Table, by Pablo Picasso, is oil on canvas. Picasso has taken humble domestic objects as his subjects. There’s an interesting tension here between the relative ease of applying paint to canvas, and the labor involved in producing the various ceramic vessels on display. Some of these would have been made using molds, while others were likely hand-thrown, and then fired in a kiln. Consider the cultural associations of these materials and processes: painting being traditionally seen as a fine art, and ceramics as closer to craft. Picasso blurs this distinction, by rendering these objects of utility in an artistic medium. And we can also note the intimacy of the scene, where functional objects become worthy of aesthetic contemplation. Recognizing the materials and making in this way gives us a new appreciation for the artistic intent, and how the value of labor and everyday objects are portrayed here.