Still Life with Flowers, Fruits and the Back of a Chair 1914 - 1918

Karl Isakson made this painting, Still Life with Flowers, Fruits and the Back of a Chair, with oil on canvas. The color palette here, it’s muted but not sad. It's like the memory of a vibrant moment, softened by time. Look at the way Isakson applies the paint, loose and intuitive. It feels like he's more interested in capturing the essence of the objects rather than their exact likeness. The texture is smooth in some areas and in others you can see the strokes, giving a sense of movement. The fruit and foliage are all rendered with this same deft, almost slap-dash method of application, and so each becomes as important as the next. The painting’s surface isn't overworked, it embraces the casual gesture. I keep thinking of Bonnard, who also had that talent for making a painting look like it just happened, as though it was thrown together. But of course, it wasn’t. Art is a conversation, a constant exchange of ideas across time.