Apples in a basket 1920

Tadeusz Makowski made this painting of apples in a basket with oil paint. It’s a very gentle work. I’m imagining Makowski in his studio, contemplating this simple still life, getting lost in its forms. I bet he was interested in the geometry: those perfect spheres against the rigid lines of the basket. The colour palette is subdued. Brown, beige, peach, all very earthy. The paint isn’t too thick. There’s a slight roughness to the surface. You can see he was probably working quite fast, not fussy, just letting the colours and shapes emerge. It reminds me of Cezanne, in a way, but more humble, more cozy. The way the handle is rendered is just so simple and beautiful; the peach colour lends it an ethereal touch, as if the basket and its contents are about to lift off the ground and float away. It’s this kind of subtlety that makes me appreciate painting, that makes me want to spend hours in my studio, playing with colour and texture. It’s all one big conversation between artists across time.