Still Life with Teapot and Fruit

Still Life with Teapot and Fruit is a painting created by Paul Gauguin in 1896, executed in oil on canvas. This masterful work, currently held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection, exemplifies the Post-Impressionist artist's continued engagement with traditional European subject matter even while residing in Tahiti.

The composition utilizes elements characteristic of the still life genre, focusing on arrangements of fruit and ceramic objects. The titular teapot, rendered in stylized white, anchors the center of the canvas, surrounded by densely pigmented groupings of fruit in various rich reds, yellows, and browns. Gauguin rejected the optical realism of his contemporaries, instead prioritizing emotional resonance and decorative effect through the use of saturated, unmixed colors and heavy, defining outlines-a technique rooted in Synthetism.

The artist minimized cast shadows, which flattens the space and emphasizes the graphic intensity of the surface design. Gauguin’s formalist approach allows the colors of the fruit and the surrounding drapery to interact powerfully, transforming a domestic scene into an exercise in pure color theory and arrangement. This piece demonstrates his enduring ability to infuse mundane objects with symbolic presence. The painting offers insight into the techniques of a major Post-Impressionist master. Due to its historical significance and widespread appeal, high-quality prints derived from public domain records of this important work are frequently reproduced for study and display.