Bouteille et journal (Le Guéridon) (Bottle and Newspaper (Small Round Side Table))

The Cubist method developed by George Braque and Pablo Picasso in the years after 1907 was based on a simplification of forms of objects. In this painting the motif of two everyday objects lying next to one another on a table forms the starting point of a geometrically organized composition. The letters STAL indicate the name of a daily newspaper from the south of France, the Reveille Postal. The central perspective presentation is dissolved and replaced by a number of lines that can be read as fragmented views of the objects from different sides. Grey and brown are the dominant colors, applied on the canvas with short brush strokes inserted mosaic-like in the linear structure. The materiality of the paint applied indicates that of the objects (wood, glass, paper, cloth), providing viewers with a hint of their physical existence.