‘This fruit bowl is positioned on a neutral background as if dropped into a beige laboratory beaker for examination and study. The fruits and bowl are clearly identifiable by comparison with many similar works depicting the same subjet (e.g., Man with Fruit Bowl, 1917 y Fruit Bowl, Barcelona, 1917). […]. Picasso, who undoubtedly borrowed the still-life motif from Paul Cézanne, greatly exploited it later during his Analytical and Synthetic Cubism phases as an ideal subjet for creating and reconstructing space.
This fruit bowl may be related to the still lifes executed in different mediums, including sculpture, for the Saint-Raphaël open-window series in 1919. Most often, the footed bowl is shown on a table beside a musical instrument or a sheet of music. The subject of grapes and a compote seems to have been a frequent motif among the cubists. […].
Here, the execution of Picasso’s still-life painting reflects the same lack of depth apparent in earlier Cubist Works, as well as the tendency to compress shadows into planes of flattened colors. However, the light-and-dark contrast that outlines the fruit bowl also silhouettes its shape in the same way that areas of minimally prepared or unpainted canvas are used to create illusions of space and depth. These are techniques of postwar Cubism that Picasso will continue to explore in his color lithographs. Despite overpainting, pentimenti of a design of parallelograms reminiscent of one of Juan Gris’s motifs, as well as Picasso’s own Harlequins, remain behind the fruit bowl. […].
El contenido del frutero, y concretamente la manera en que el pintor ha puesto en relieve dos racimos de uvas planos —uno negro silueteado en blanco y otro incoloro de uvas blancas silueteadas con bandas en negro y azul—, reproducen los procedimientos de collage y construcción que Picasso había utilizado entre 1912 y 1914. Éste es uno de los muchos ejemplos de su inspiración en obras anteriores para crear en otro medio distinto. Durante toda su carrera, Picasso mezclará materiales con diferentes métodos de producción para renovar constantemente su arte e inventar un lenguaje visual inédito y moderno, destinado a dejar una impronta indeleble en el arte del siglo XX».
The contents of the fruit bowl, especially the manner in which Picasso has set into relief two flat bunches of grapes—one, a black bunch outlined in white, and another, an uncoloured bunch of white grapes outlined in bands of black and blue—mimic the artist’s collage and construction methods from 1912 to 1914. This is one of many examples of Picasso’s use of his own earlier works as inspiration for his art in other mediums. For the duration of his career, Picasso will mix materials with various methods of production to achieve constant renewal of his own artistry and to invent a fresh, modern visual language destined to become an indelible influence on twentieth-century art’.
Text: GIMÉNEZ, Carmen (ed). Collection Museo Picasso Málaga. Malaga: Museo Picasso Málaga, 2003, p. 80-82.
