Composition with Figures 1915

Lyubov Popova created this painting, titled 'Composition with Figures,' using oil on canvas. Here, we see a still life of a group of figures with a guitar and fruit bowl rendered in a Cubo-Futurist style. In this painting, the guitar is a potent symbol, frequently associated with leisure and cultural refinement. The guitar appears in numerous paintings throughout history, from depictions of Apollo in ancient Greek pottery to its presence in Pablo Picasso's Cubist works. The recurrence of this symbol across vastly different times and cultures suggests its enduring appeal, embodying both artistic creation and personal enjoyment. However, here, the guitar is fragmented. This mirrors the fracturing of traditional values and the emergence of new artistic forms in the early 20th century. This fragmentation speaks to the complex, often subconscious ways in which artists draw on historical symbols, adapting and reinterpreting them to reflect the spirit of their own age. The echoes of the past resonate in the present.