Still-life with fruit

If it were not for the fruit on the plate, this picture by Pranas Domšaitis (1880–1965) would be almost monochromatic. This quality makes the painting strange and tense. The subjects are very ordinary: a jug, a cup and saucer, a large plate with fruit, and a cut apple, which upsets the balance and peacefulness of the geometrically arranged composition. The contrast between the unchanging everlasting white crockery and the colourful short-lived fruit gives rise to various thoughts. To some, it is about statics and dynamics, and their sources and reasons; to others, it is about impermanence and stability; while to others it is about the conventionality of beauty. The artist must have tried to give this impression.

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album OBJECTS ON SHOW (2017). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė
Expositions: “Always on the Road. Paintings from Private Collections”, 12 June – 27 July 2015, M. Žilinskas Art Gallery, Kaunas

If it were not for the fruit on the plate, this picture by Pranas Domšaitis (1880–1965) would be almost monochromatic. This quality makes the painting strange and tense. The subjects are very ordinary: a jug, a cup and saucer, a large plate with fruit, and a cut apple, which upsets the balance and peacefulness of the geometrically arranged composition. The contrast between the unchanging everlasting white crockery and the colourful short-lived fruit gives rise to various thoughts. To some, it is about statics and dynamics, and their sources and reasons; to others, it is about impermanence and stability; while to others it is about the conventionality of beauty. The artist must have tried to give this impression.

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album OBJECTS ON SHOW (2017). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė
Expositions: “Always on the Road. Paintings from Private Collections”, 12 June – 27 July 2015, M. Žilinskas Art Gallery, Kaunas