Nude Still Life 1969

Robert De Niro Senior made this painting, Nude Still Life, sometime in 1969, using oils. Looking at this piece, I see how the visible brushstrokes become a language, a way to translate the world onto canvas. The physicality of the paint is really striking here. It’s thick in places, almost sculptural, especially when you look at that pear. The way De Niro layers colours, letting them peek through, gives everything a sense of depth and movement. And, check out the lines that form the nude – they're not just outlines, they're like pathways, guiding my eye up and down the figure, suggesting form without defining it too rigidly. I love how he leaves so much open to interpretation. De Niro's work reminds me a little of Fairfield Porter, actually, in the way he captures these intimate, domestic scenes with such a loose, gestural hand. But De Niro has this edginess, a kind of raw energy, that’s all his own. It’s a reminder that art is always a conversation, artists responding to and riffing off each other’s ideas.