Still-life with Fruits 1929

Bela Czobel made this still life with, I assume, oil paint. The colors feel warm and sun-drenched, as if seen through a slightly out-of-focus lens. You can almost taste the ripeness. Look at the striped tablecloth. See how the brushstrokes are kind of choppy and broken? It's not about copying reality but about making marks that suggest light and shadow, a rumpled surface. The juicy brushwork creates a push and pull between abstraction and representation. And that little apple peel, hanging off the edge of the plate like a diving board, adds a touch of humor and spontaneity. There’s a painter, like Bonnard, who loves to play with domestic objects and everyday pleasures. Czobel reminds us that art is, above all, a conversation, a way of seeing and feeling that we pass on to each other, never quite settled, always open to new interpretations.