Still Life. Victoria Charles

      Fruits from the Midi

      Auguste Renoir, 1881

      Oil on canvas, 51 × 68 cm

      The Art Institute, Chicago

      He did long studies of artistic tradition and made many copies of Old Masters. At the same time, Matisse had an affection for the Primitives and children’s drawings which was fully in keeping with his pursuit of pure expressivity.

      Vase of Flowers on a Table

      Paul Cézanne, 1882–1887

      Oil on canvas, 60 × 73 cm

      Private collection, Paris

      His still lifes reflect various stages in the cleansing of the palette and change of techniques used to apply paint. In the mid-1910s Matisse’s painterly hand gained assurance and his colour a saturated intensity.

      Still Life with a Chest of Drawers

      Paul Cézanne, 1883–1887

      Oil on canvas, 73.3 × 90.2 cm

      Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen

      Neue Pinakothek, Munich

      He freed himself completely from the compromise of halftones and revealed the limits of pure expressivity inherent in line and colour, yet he did not break with the material world. His path forward was clear and consisted in bringing the principles he had discovered to perfection.

      Peaches (in the door of the Salon Durand-Ruel)

      Claude Monet, 1883

      Oil on canvas, 50.5 × 37 cm

      Private collection