Adolphe Monticelli, 'Still Life: Fruit', about 1878-82

A wine glass, a flask-shaped carafe, a knife and a plate of fruit are shown on a table, set against a flat dark background. The table is covered by a cloth decorated with flowers and blue stripes that helps create a sense of recession into depth. The tablecloth is also present in the artist’s Still Life: Oysters, Fish and A Vase of Wild Flowers, making it possible that they were painted as pendants.

Monticelli painted fewer still lifes than he did any other subject, probably because he preferred to paint outdoors than work in the studio. Nevertheless, his landscapes are generally far less realistic than his still lifes. Most of Monticelli’s still life paintings were made between 1875 and 1885 – the majority, including this picture, were completed between 1878 and 1882. Here, the position of the table, which is placed parallel to the picture plane, recalls similar compositions by Cezanne painted in the late 1880s. It is worth remembering that Cezanne was an admirer of Monticelli’s use of impasto (thickly applied paint) and the directional brushstrokes of his later work, and the two painters were good friends during the 1880s.

Technical investigation by the National Gallery has revealed how Monticelli used differently shaped brushes to describe the specific surfaces. For the overall composition he used medium-sized brushes, while smaller brushes were used for thicker impasto and finer details. This variation in the brushwork can be seen, for example, by comparing the texture of the tablecloth with that of the flask. It is also possible that the artist used a matchstick, dragged through the paint, to create some of the finer textural effects of the skin of the fruit. Together with the strong outlines, this technique enabled Monticelli to give the objects in his painting a solid, almost three-dimensional appearance. The artist used a mahogany wooden panel as support.

The picture was presented as part of the ‘Harry Wearne Collection of Twelve Paintings by Monticelli’ to the Tate Gallery in 1939. It was transferred to the National Gallery in 1956.