Still Life with Apples 1915

Othon Friesz made this painting of apples and crockery with oil on canvas. I like to imagine the experience of painting this picture. It must have been a joyful, sensual experience arranging the composition of luscious apples and decorative tea pot, trying to capture the fall of light across the white tablecloth. You get a sense of Friesz’s thinking as you track the brushstrokes. The colour is luminous and warm, with delicate pinks and blues that catch the light. See how the paint handling is quite loose and free, with a kind of joyful approach to colour and form. The objects are outlined with dark paint to give a sense of depth and volume, but he doesn’t get bogged down with detail, which gives it a fresh, immediate feel. What is so nice about seeing paintings like this is to know that it came about through the artist looking and responding, and that paintings continue to feed into one another across time, and keep the conversation going.