Still Life with Bottle and Lunch Box 1922

Harald Giersing made this still life painting, with its bottle and lunch box, using oil on canvas. I'm thinking about the moment of making, the back and forth of the brush, deciding where to leave a stroke, what to cover up. He must have looked closely, squinting, trying to see the essence of a bottle, the presence of a lunch box. There's something about the way he renders these objects in simplified forms, like bold graphic symbols almost. The shapes are defined by strong contrasts, and a monochromatic palette, but it’s not really about copying what’s in front of you. He might have been thinking about Cezanne, and his own way of seeing. That single drip of black paint running down the bottle makes me think of that tension between control and chance that’s so particular to painting. It’s all about responding, isn’t it? Painting is a conversation with yourself and with art history.