Still life
(Nature morte)
(1920)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
80.5 × 100.3 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The Eugénie Crawford Bequest, 2007
©Amédée Ozenfant / Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Gallery location
Late 19th & early 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Still life perfectly encapsulates the ideals of the Purist movement in France. Bottles, cups, dishes and tables that were mass-produced and undistinguished in detail are here rendered as polished, unbroken forms, with smooth contours and chiselled profiles. In Nature morte these everyday objects are painted with even and seemingly anonymous brushwork, with no sense of the artist’s individual touch or presence. Its muted grey-blue palette exemplifies Ozenfant’s belief that colour should be subordinate to form.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Paris, France
Inscription
inscribed in black paint l.r.: ozenfant
Accession Number
2007.453
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Abstract Art Still Lifes
Subjects (specific)
blue (colour) bottles circles (plane figures) flat (form attributes) glassware grey (colour) guitars wine bottles
Movements
Purism