Martwa natura 1918

Wladyslaw Strzeminski made this untitled still life, or 'Martwa natura' as it's called in Polish, with oil on canvas. I love how the composition is built from geometric shapes, almost like paper cut-outs arranged and rearranged until they find their place. Look at the surface, the way the paint seems both matte and subtly textured, it gives a tactile quality to the abstraction. I'm drawn to the interplay between the blue plane and the cylindrical form of the glass – how the cool hues vibrate against the warmer tones. The layering here gives a sense of depth. It's not just about objects, but about how they relate, the tensions they create. Strzeminski’s exploration of form and space reminds me of the early Cubist works of Braque and Picasso, except here, the color palette feels uniquely modern. This work invites us to see beyond the surface, to explore the relationships between shapes, colors, and textures.