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Still Life

Still Life

Artist: Camille Pissarro (French, 1830-1903)
Date: 1867
Dimensions:
Painting: 31 7/8 × 39 1/4 in. (81 × 99.7 cm)
Frame: 43 1/2 × 51 1/2 × 6 in. (110.5 × 130.8 × 15.2 cm)
Medium: oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1949.6
Label Text:“Don’t bother trying to look for something new: you won’t find novelty in the subject matter, but in the way you express it.”
--Camille Pissarro

The subject of this painting is as much the display of how it was created, as it is what is represented (a simple meal of ham in a ceramic bowl, apples, bread, and red wine). Camille Pissarro used a palette knife to apply paint boldly in smooth, flat surfaces broken with sculpted areas of impasto (thickly built-up strokes of paint, from the Italian for “paste”). He also worked more delicately with the paintbrush in certain areas—see, for example, the wine glass. This deliberate juxtaposition of techniques results in a vibrant surface that can convey great visual energy and emotional power.

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