Mirror 1941

Alice Cosgrove painted this mirror with watercolor and graphite. At the top, a painted panel shows a basket filled with fruit, draped with a red curtain. The inclusion of fruit is more than mere decoration. Since antiquity, fruit has symbolized abundance, fertility, and the cyclical nature of life. Think of Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruitful abundance. The display of fruit here speaks to a sense of domestic well-being, resonating with similar motifs found in Dutch still life paintings of the Golden Age. But notice also how the mirror reflects back at the viewer. Mirrors have long been associated with vanity but also with introspection, truth, and self-awareness. The mirror invites a dialogue between appearance and reality, urging us to consider what lies beneath the surface of beauty and plenty. This image, with its dual symbolism, evokes a powerful psychological tension. These symbols return, again and again, carrying the weight of history and our collective subconscious.