Gauguin (25) Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

The composition presents a still life arranged on a draped table against a dark, uniform background. A white tablecloth dominates the foreground, its folds and creases rendered with broad, visible brushstrokes that contribute to a sense of texture and volume. Upon this surface are assembled several objects: various fish, a pumpkin, flowers, and an ornate mirror or framed object.
The fish, depicted in vibrant hues of orange, blue, and green, occupy the central space. Their forms are simplified, almost abstracted, with minimal attention paid to realistic detail. They appear arranged deliberately, creating a dynamic diagonal across the composition. To the right of the fish sits a large pumpkin, its surface rendered in deep reds and greens, echoing the color palette of the fish while providing a contrasting organic form. Scattered around these central elements are flowers – a single orange bloom and a cluster of smaller red blossoms – adding touches of delicate detail amidst the larger forms.
Behind the arrangement stands an elaborately framed object. Within its frame is a depiction of a female figure, rendered in a similar simplified style to the fish. The figure’s pose suggests a classical or mythological subject, though her features are indistinct and somewhat obscured by the darkness behind her. This element introduces a layer of symbolic complexity, hinting at themes of beauty, mythology, or perhaps even artistic representation itself.
The overall effect is one of deliberate artificiality. The objects seem staged rather than observed naturally. The limited color palette – primarily blues, greens, reds, and whites – creates a sense of unity while the flattened perspective and simplified forms contribute to an almost dreamlike quality. Theres a feeling that the artist isn’t striving for photographic realism but instead seeks to convey a mood or explore formal relationships between shapes and colors. The signature in the lower left corner, along with the date (1893), anchors the work within a specific historical context, suggesting an engagement with contemporary artistic trends focused on simplification and symbolic representation.