Still Life With Peppers and Carrots Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943)

The composition presents a still life arrangement rendered in a style characterized by expressive brushwork and a deliberate distortion of form. A roughly textured table surface dominates the foreground, its reddish-brown hue providing a warm backdrop for the objects arranged upon it. The artist has employed thick impasto to build up the texture of the tabletop, creating a sense of physicality and immediacy.
Arranged on this surface are several items: a cluster of green peppers, a fish lying diagonally across the composition, and two carrots presented on a white plate. The fish is depicted with an emphasis on its skeletal structure and shimmering scales, achieved through short, broken brushstrokes in shades of blue and silver. Its placement creates a dynamic diagonal line that cuts across the painting, adding visual tension.
The peppers are rendered as blocky forms, their green color contrasting sharply with the warmer tones of the table. They appear almost sculptural in their solidity. The carrots on the plate are simplified into elongated shapes, their red hue providing another focal point within the arrangement. The white plate itself is outlined with a thick band of paint, emphasizing its circular form and isolating it from the surrounding elements.
The background is suggested rather than fully depicted; a wash of blue-green creates an ambiguous space behind the objects, contributing to the overall sense of flatness and abstraction. Light appears to emanate from an unseen source, casting subtle shadows that further define the forms.
Beyond the straightforward depiction of everyday objects, the painting conveys a feeling of melancholy or introspection. The distorted perspective and expressive brushwork suggest a subjective interpretation rather than a purely representational one. Theres a sense of fragility conveyed by the fish’s exposed form, while the arrangement as a whole evokes themes of transience and the passage of time. The deliberate simplification of forms and the emphasis on texture contribute to an atmosphere that is both intimate and unsettling.