Bowl of Eggs 1985

Mary Fedden made this painting, Bowl of Eggs, with oil paint. It looks like she started with a mid-toned ground, then added layers of ochre, white, and lilac. The table on which the jug and bowl sit has a diamond pattern, but it’s not fooling anyone. This feels like a painting of a painting. A painting of domesticity, of a woman’s life perhaps, but one that is mediated by a love for the materiality of color and pigment. I wonder, was Fedden thinking about the history of still life painting when she painted this? Maybe Morandi? Or Gwen John? I love how she takes a simple subject like a bowl of eggs and turns it into something so visually arresting and emotionally resonant. You can see how one painter builds upon the legacy of those who came before, adding their own unique voice to the ongoing conversation about what painting can be.