Blumenstilleben 1959

Editor: This is Cuno Amiet's "Blumenstilleben," painted in 1959, with oil paints creating this lovely impasto texture. It feels very expressive, but also slightly unsettling with the vibrant yet almost floating flowers. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The 'floating' quality you observe is key. The symbolic language of flowers – their colour, their arrangement, even their wilting – speaks volumes across cultures. Do the colours strike you as particularly harmonious or dissonant? Editor: A bit dissonant, actually. The yellows and reds pop against that almost sickly green. Curator: Precisely! That dissonance may tap into deeper currents. Think of vanitas paintings, where flowers symbolize the fleeting nature of life. Does Amiet fully embrace that tradition here, or does he offer a modern twist? Editor: It’s interesting because the bright colours almost feel defiant, pushing against that idea of decay. So maybe it’s not just about the traditional vanitas. Curator: Indeed. Amiet, deeply immersed in Expressionism, uses colour to project interior states. The red, traditionally associated with passion, juxtaposed with the transient yellow and a slightly ‘off’ green, can hint at emotional turbulence. Look how he applies paint, rough, unblended in many parts. Is it a realistic image of flowers or an emotional expression using them as its tools? Editor: I see that. So it's less about perfectly representing the flowers, and more about conveying a feeling, like anxiety, using familiar symbols? Curator: Precisely. Amiet’s still life becomes a vessel for exploring human experience. This work acts as a signifier of interior states, speaking through a symbolic, almost coded language. Editor: That completely changes how I see the painting. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. Thinking about visual vocabularies transforms our understanding and deepens the emotional and cultural resonance of artworks.