1924
oil, sand, other materials on canvas
32 x 39 inches
Cleveland Museum of Art
Gift of the Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Picasso painted this still life at Juan-les-Pons on the French Riveiera in 1924.It was a relatively tranquil time in his life, marked by the birth of his son, Paolo with wife Olga Koklova.Picasso's lively still lifes of the period often express the simple pleasures of domestic life.He produced various tactile effects in this painting by adding sand to his paints and mixing them with substances that made certain surfaces intentionally crack.
Immediately apparent in the picture is a surface of varied textures and patterns. The paint was clearly applied in a number of layers of different colors. In some areas-such as the blue and gray inside the bowl and the tans around the bottle, bowl, and peeled fruit-sand has been mixed in the pigment to enrich the surface. The off-white pigment of the biscuits, on the other hand, was applied like cake frosting, in smooth, thick strokes-probably with a knife. The leaf pattern of the tablecloth adds a decorative element to the surface.