Still Life

Still Life is an oil on canvas painting created by Paul Gauguin sometime between 1870 and 1899. This expansive date range covers a critical transition in the artist's career, spanning his early engagement with Impressionism and his decisive shift toward the Symbolist principles and simplified, saturated forms that would define Post-Impressionism. The classification of the work as a painting captures Gauguin's enduring commitment to the medium, even as he began his travels and deep investigation into non-Western aesthetics.

Unlike traditional academic nature morte, this piece demonstrates Gauguin’s distinctive approach to composition, utilizing defined outlines and broad fields of color to flatten perspective, a technique often associated with Cloisonnism. The arrangement features typical domestic subject matter, specifically an array of colorful fruit placed near or in decorative ceramic vases. Gauguin's technique treats the canvas surface with a palpable texture, creating volume through the juxtaposition of pigment rather than relying strictly on classical shading or realistic modeling. This deliberate decorative emphasis contrasts sharply with the subtle atmospheric effects sought by his Impressionist contemporaries.

This significant painting resides in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it serves as a key example of the artistic revolution that occurred in France at the close of the 19th century. Gauguin’s bold experimentation with color and symbolic meaning greatly influenced subsequent generations of modernist artists, shaping the direction of avant-garde art into the 20th century. Because many works from this period are now held in public domain collections, high-quality prints and reproductions of this canvas are frequently utilized for educational and decorative purposes, ensuring the widespread continuation of Gauguin’s revolutionary aesthetic.