Peinture/Nature Morte
| Support Type: | Canvas |
| Paint Type: | Oil Paint |
| Current Location: | National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., United States |
Peinture/Nature Morte is one of a group of 25 related still-life paintings that Patrick Henry Bruce produced in his Paris apartment between 1917 and 1930. Although the title simply means “Painting/Still Life,” the work moves far away from conventional still-life representation. Bruce reduces familiar household objects into simplified geometric shapes- making their relationships of colour, form and space more important than their individual identity. The composition is organised around a horizontal table like plane extending from the lower left. On it are abstracted versions of drinking glasses, mortars and pestles, drafting tools, wooden mouldings and magnets from Bruce's own surroundings and collections. Cylinders, triangular forms and curved shapes overlap or sit beside one another creating a shallow but clearly structured space. Colour is particularly important. Bruce uses strong pink, purple, blue, turquoise, white, black and grey, often giving different colours to the upper and side surfaces of the same object. The bright palette reflects his contact with Henri Matisse and his interest in contemporary colour theory. His work was also influenced by Paul Cézanne and the geometric developments of Cubism and Orphic Cubism. The background is not simply an empty setting. Angled bands, vertical forms and an inverted triangular structure create another layer of geometric organisation. The objects remain partly recognisable, but Bruce deliberately removes unnecessary detail so that shape, colour, proportion and spatial relationships become the main subjects of the painting. This approach has also been discussed in relation to Purism, which emphasised simplified geometric forms and visual order. The painting belongs to the fifth and most compositionally complex group within Bruce's still-life series. In this group, Bruce progressively simplified and rearranged elements while retaining recurring geometric structures. This repeated working process may also reflect Bruce's personal search for balance and control during a difficult period of his life.