Nature Morte Devant La Fenêtre 1925

Georges Valmier made this still life painting of a composition of objects in front of a window using paint and paper. The palette is muted, subtle, but still playful, like a child’s bedroom. He works in these stacked shapes that are pasted on top of each other. I’m wondering what it was like to make this collage, maybe a rainy day in the studio? He starts with the back surface and builds it up. I imagine him thinking and planning this one out. Each decision informs the next, slowly emerging, shifting, through trial, error, and a certain intuition. The checkered pattern on the object closest to us almost floats off the surface. So much of painting is a conversation with the past: think of Valmier looking at Synthetic Cubism, and Braque and Picasso, then making his own version, his own shapes and colours. Artists build on each other, so much of the best stuff comes out of that community, that exchange. It's like one big game of telephone.