Still Life with Teapot and Fruit by Paul Gauguin

Still Life with Teapot and Fruit

Paul Gauguin · 1896

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“Stop to appreciate how Paul Gauguin transforms a simple still life into a vibrant exploration of form and color, using bold outlines and flattened perspective to give everyday objects a profound presence.”

ABOUT THIS WORK

In this still life from 1896, a vibrant red teapot commands attention, its round form echoed by the fruit arranged around it. The composition feels intimate, almost as if we're peeking into a private moment. Gauguin painted this work during his second stay in Tahiti, a period when he explored themes of local life and spiritual connection. Yet, here, he turns his gaze to the domestic, rendering familiar objects with an intensity of color and simplified forms that hint at deeper symbolic resonance. The flattened perspective and bold outlines, characteristic of his Synthetist style, push beyond mere representation, inviting contemplation of the objects themselves. It's a quiet scene, but one charged with the artist's distinctive vision, transforming everyday items into something more profound.

DETAILS
Artist
Paul Gauguin
Date
1896
Medium
Oil on canvas
Location
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Dimensions
18 3/4 x 26 in. (47.6 x 66 cm)
Collection
European Paintings
Credit line
The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Gift of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 1997, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002
ART MOVEMENTS
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What to Notice

Five details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

Still Life with Teapot and Fruit
01

The bold red teapot, a central focal point.

02

The flattened, almost two-dimensional quality of the fruit.

03

The way colors are used for emotional impact, not just realism.

04

The subtle texture of the canvas visible beneath the paint.

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THE ARTIST

Paul Gauguin

1848–1903 · France

Paul Gauguin, the French Post-Impressionist, abandoned a stockbroker's life for art, famously seeking 'refuge from Western civilization' in Tahiti.

Read Gauguin’s full story
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Beyond Gauguin and Symbolism: works from the same years, and from the other movements Still Life with Teapot and Fruit belongs to.

Carmelina Same movement · Post-Impressionism Carmelina Henri Matisse · 1903 · Museum of Fine Arts Boston A Woman Walking in a Garden Same era · 1880s–1910s A Woman Walking in a Garden Vincent van Gogh · 1887 · Frans Buffa & sons The Old Guitarist Same movement · Post-Impressionism The Old Guitarist Pablo Picasso · 1903 · Art Institute of Chicago Still Life with Crayfish Same era · 1880s–1910s Still Life with Crayfish Mikhail Larionov · 1900 · Museum Ludwig Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando) Same movement · Post-Impressionism Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando) Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1887 · Art Institute of Chicago Frauenkopf vor Sonnenblumen Same era · 1880s–1910s Frauenkopf vor Sonnenblumen Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · 1906 · Museum Frieder Burda After the Bullfight Same movement · Impressionism After the Bullfight Mary Cassatt · 1873 · Art Institute of Chicago A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884 Same era · 1880s–1910s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884 Okada Saburosuke · 1884 · Art Institute of Chicago
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