“Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses”
It is primarily important to mention that looking at different art creations is a chance for every individual to develop themselves, look at the world from the perspective of the creator, and enrich their knowledge. I believe that every person has to take advantage of the possibilities offered and contribute to the development of art sense and understanding. For this assignment, I decided to choose a painting by Paul Cézanne that is called “Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses.” This work of art can easily be found on the website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Open Access Artworks collection or be encountered with during the physical visit to this place in New York. It is a post-impressionist oil on canvas paining that was created by the artist in 1890. Since from many paintings that I personally saw on the museum’s website this interested me the most, the following paper will discuss it in more detail including a personal reflection and opinion about it.
Before discussing the work itself, it is primarily useful to gain more knowledge about the artist. Having basic understanding of his life and career, it can be easier for people to judge art pieces and understand their meaning. Paul Cézanne was a French painter who is considered to be one of the greatest post-impressionists and “whole works and ideas were influential in the aesthetic development of many 20th-century artists and art movements, especially Cubism” (Huyghe, 2021). Due to his unique personal expression and integrity in the paintings, it is believed that this artist challenges the traditional values and technique of painting in the 19th century; therefore, this is the reason why he is still popular and widely discussed in the field of art (Huyghe, 2021). In the final period of his career and life, the painter preferred solitude and connected with nature and its art. In his late years his diabetes, from which he was suffering for a long time, became worse and led to his death in 1906 (Huyghe, 2021). Thus, after learning this information, reflecting on his specific paintings becomes even more interesting and valuable.
It is important to mention that “Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses” is not the only work of Cézanne that included fruits. He had a whole series of these paintings, which in art history are called by the collocation “still lifes” (Stanska, 2016). He loved to paint them and, throughout the career, changed perspectives and portrayed them in many different ways. For instance, at the beginning, his apples looked like simple apples; then, they became more modern and looked more like decorative objects; and then, he started painting them from a variety of viewpoints that made people reflect on the art pieces and think deeper about their meaning (Stanska, 2016). Therefore, talking about the personal meaning behind this painting, I would say that it represents one of the stages of artist’s development and professional growth.
Taking a closer look at the content and details of the painting, it can be mentioned that this art piece does not include many complicated details that are hard to understand. The painting is quite simple, the focus is clearly understood, and it does not include any metaphorical elements that have to be understood from a different perspective. However, the absence of people on the painting does not make it look artificial or free from emotion. The viewers of the painting can see a table with apples and a pot of flowers on it. The painting techniques used by the artists create a specific feeling of depth and portray the apples on the foreground and the pot on the background. The painting uses bring and warm colors that are pleasing to the eye and provoke positive emotions.
Talking about the historical context of “Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses,” it can be stated that it was created by the artist at the time when he started experimenting, playing with his unique style, and representing different perspectives. This is one of the works where the viewers can see that his fruits became more abstract. At this piece of art that do not see to have any purpose that just to be decorative objects. In general, judging the historical context of this painting does not seem extremely valuable because the art piece does not represent any people or is not a metaphor for a specific even that happened in real life.
I have chosen to reflect on this particular painting mainly because it was the first one to grab my attention. Like I mentioned earlier, even though there were many different works of art and not only paintings but also sculptures, “Still Life Apples and a Pot of Primroses” was the one that interested me the most. When surfing through the website, this painting was one of the first ones that grabbed my attention. What I specifically liked in it is that it looked very bold and bright. In case you put it in the group of other paintings, this one will definitely stand out because of its bright colors and warm atmosphere. In addition, I am used to seeing paintings that depict people or objects of architecture; however, this one is definitely different and not the usual one that we can see online.
To summarize, taking a look at an art piece and explaining it in detail is a very valuable and beneficial practice especially for personal development and understanding of art. As explained earlier, the message of this painting is to represent one of the periods of Paul Cézanne’s development and professional growth. To show how he improved and challenged the traditional ideas about art and provided new perspectives. Consequently, it can be stated that the universal message delivered by this work of art is that everything changes with time, improves, and bring new ideas to the public. Even the apples can look different and carry a specific purpose each time they are painted.
Works Cited
Huyghe, René. “Paul Cézanne”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2021, Web.
Stanska, Zuzanna. “All We Know About Cézanne’s Fruits”. Daily Art Magazine, 2016, Web.