The painting features a collection of fruit on a plate behind two bottles. The plate with the fruit is in the center of the painting, and on it are pieces of round, green fruit with hints of pink. They may be apples. A tall bottle is in front of the plate, and it is yellow with a white cap. Another, shorter bottle is to the right of the first; it has a colorful label. An apple like those on the plate rests in front of the bottles. There are also two blue-gray shapes that could be mugs on round saucers. The surface these objects rest on is mostly green, but there are also streaks of blue and light pink. The wall behind the objects is made up of streaks of light and dark blue. The brushstrokes in the image are thick and visible, blurring the details on the objects.

Still Life with Bottles and Fruit

Alexej von Jawlensky

The painting features a collection of fruit on a plate behind two bottles. The plate with the fruit is in the center of the painting, and on it are pieces of round, green fruit with hints of pink. They may be apples. A tall bottle is in front of the plate, and it is yellow with a white cap. Another, shorter bottle is to the right of the first; it has a colorful label. An apple like those on the plate rests in front of the bottles. There are also two blue-gray shapes that could be mugs on round saucers. The surface these objects rest on is mostly green, but there are also streaks of blue and light pink. The wall behind the objects is made up of streaks of light and dark blue. The brushstrokes in the image are thick and visible, blurring the details on the objects.

Colors in this work

Details

Date
1900
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 48 x 49.2 cm (18 7/8 x 19 3/8 in.) framed: 67 x 67.6 x 4.8 cm (26 3/8 x 26 5/8 x 1 7/8 in.)
Department
CMC
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Gift of Benjamin and Lillian Hertzberg

Art Genome Taxonomy

7 tags

Subject Matter

  • Still Life Both · 99%

    The title identifies the work as a still life, and the image depicts an arrangement of inanimate objects on a tabletop, including fruit, bottles, and possible cups or mugs.

  • Group of Objects Visual · 98%

    Several distinct objects are assembled within one compact tabletop arrangement: a plate, multiple pieces of fruit, two bottles, and blue-gray cup- or bowl-like forms.

  • Food Both · 97%

    The image visibly shows rounded green and reddish forms presented as fruit, while the museum description identifies the objects as fruit that may be apples.

Visual Qualities

  • Bright and Vivid Colors Visual · 98%

    The composition uses saturated blue, green, yellow, pink, red, and white accents throughout the objects and surrounding field.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 100%

    The National Gallery of Art records the medium as oil on canvas.

  • Impasto Visual · 96%

    Thick, raised-looking and directional paint strokes are visibly built up across the background, tabletop, fruit, and bottles, creating a strongly tactile surface.

Time Periods

  • 1900 - 1917 Art Metadata · 99%

    The work is dated 1900, placing it within the catalog’s 1900–1917 period category.

Source & rights

Alexej von Jawlensky. Still Life with Bottles and Fruit. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

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