Roses 

Samuel Peploe made this still life painting, Roses, with oil paint on canvas. This is a traditional medium, yet he handled it in a distinctly modern way. Look closely at the surfaces he created. Thick impasto and expressive brushwork animate the forms. The roses, the fruit, the draped cloth, and even the background all seem to pulse with energy. The rapid application of paint suggests a fleeting moment captured in time. It gives us insight into Peploe’s way of working, and the speed that he was able to capture the image. He clearly valued directness and immediacy over refinement and detail. We might think of his technique as a kind of industrialization of painting, focusing on efficiency and output. Yet the visible traces of the artist’s hand, the material presence of the paint itself, also resist such an interpretation. Peploe’s roses remind us that even in an age of mechanical reproduction, the personal touch of the artist remains a powerful force.