Still Life With Grapes and Carafe 

Corneliu Michailescu painted this still life with oil on canvas, evoking a sense of intimate observation through its arrangement of ordinary objects. The composition is built on a series of angular forms and soft, muted tones, which create a sense of harmonious balance across the canvas. Michailescu deconstructs the traditional still life, playing with perspective and spatial relationships, as if the viewer is seeing multiple viewpoints simultaneously. The objects – the grapes, the carafe, the fruit – are rendered with bold outlines and simplified shapes, which challenge conventional representation. The arrangement disrupts our expectations and invites a deeper engagement with the interplay between form and content. Notice how Michailescu’s use of line and colour create a dynamic tension, destabilizing the established genre of still life painting. This reflects a broader modernist concern with disrupting traditional modes of seeing. The painting becomes an exploration of the aesthetic possibilities inherent in the act of representation itself, moving beyond mere imitation.