Flowers and Fruit 1904

Émilie Charmy made this still life, Flowers and Fruit, with oils and a brush, sometime in the early twentieth century. The paint handling is so luscious and free! You can see how the brushstrokes build up the forms, like those gorgeous dabs of colour on the fruit. Each stroke feels like a decision, a little burst of energy. What I really love about this piece is the way the colours vibrate against each other. See that blue vase against the yellow background? It's not blended, it's alive! And those reds and oranges in the flowers? They almost feel like they're glowing, and if you look closely at the flowers, you'll see it is the same colours as in the fruit below. Charmy was part of a generation of women painters, like Suzanne Valadon, who were pushing boundaries in their own way. They weren't afraid to be bold, to embrace colour, and to create work that felt deeply personal. You can feel their influence echoed in the work of Lois Dodd.