1914 Verre, bouteille de vin, paquet de tabac, journal Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Period of creation: 1908-1918

The composition presents a still life arrangement rendered in a fractured and fragmented style. Here we observe several everyday objects – a glass, a bottle of wine, a packet of tobacco, and a newspaper – arranged on what appears to be a table surface. The background is a pale, almost monochromatic expanse, subtly textured with an impression of wall tiles or a similar architectural element.
The artist’s approach eschews traditional perspective and modeling. Instead, the objects are broken down into geometric planes, viewed from multiple angles simultaneously. This technique creates a sense of instability and visual complexity; forms overlap and interpenetrate, blurring the boundaries between them. The color palette is restrained, dominated by muted earth tones – ochre, brown, green, and cream – with the wine bottle providing a warmer accent.
The newspaper fragment, prominently positioned in the lower right corner, bears legible text, including what appears to be a brand name (RNAL). This inclusion introduces an element of recognizable reality into the otherwise abstracted scene, suggesting a commentary on contemporary life or perhaps even a specific historical moment. The presence of tobacco and wine further reinforces this sense of everyday existence, albeit one filtered through a lens of formal experimentation.
The arrangement itself seems deliberately casual, yet carefully considered. There is no clear focal point; the eye wanders across the fractured surfaces, attempting to piece together the whole. This lack of hierarchy contributes to the overall feeling of ambiguity and invites prolonged contemplation.
Subtly, one detects an underlying melancholy or a sense of disquiet. The fragmentation could be interpreted as a visual metaphor for disruption or loss – perhaps reflecting anxieties prevalent in the early years of the twentieth century. The seemingly mundane objects, stripped of their conventional representation, become imbued with a quiet weight and symbolic resonance. They are not merely depicted; they are presented as fragments of a larger, more complex reality.