Still Life with Zinnias in a green Jar 1910

Floris Verster made this painting of Zinnias in a green jar with oil on canvas and, boy, can you tell! There’s a juicy, almost cake-like quality to Verster’s application of paint, a textural contrast that makes you want to reach out and touch it. Notice how the thick impasto captures the light, creating highlights and shadows that give the flowers a palpable sense of volume and presence. The colour palette is gorgeous, pinks, yellows, and purples all at slightly different intensities. Look closely at the centre of the purple Zinnias, that sort of explosion of white and blue pigment, it’s like a tiny abstract painting within the larger composition. Verster's flowers feel like an interesting conversation with Van Gogh, he takes the floral still life in a completely different direction, focusing more on surface and material, this tension between representation and abstraction makes this a stand out picture for me.