Still Life with Benedictine Bottle and Fruit 1917

Samuel Peploe painted this still life with oil on canvas. Look at how he built this picture from small brushstrokes, hatching the paint across the surface! It's like he's constructing the scene piece by piece. I love the way he handles the green tablecloth – how the short strokes create a subtle texture and a kind of shimmering light. Then notice the bottle, a dark, almost looming presence, but even here, it’s not just black. There are hints of red, blue, and even white that suggest a play of light and shadow. It almost feels like a Cézanne, but Peploe has his own thing going on, a kind of Scottish light and air. These kinds of still life feel like an ongoing conversation between artists, a constant re-evaluation of what painting can do! We can always learn from these paintings.