Still life with fruit 1956

Gregoire Boonzaier created this painting of fruit with oil on canvas; each brushstroke is like a little intuitive decision. I imagine Boonzaier juggling the arrangement of fruit, bowl, and the draped fabric, shifting them slightly, squinting, then capturing the light with dashes of blues and ochres. He's probably thinking about Cezanne's apples, the way they seem both solid and fragile at once. The paint is laid on in these delicious, thick strokes, creating a surface that’s almost edible. Look at that single orange sitting on the tablecloth— it’s so round and present, it makes me want to reach out and grab it. Boonzaier has reduced the composition to its essence, leaving traces of the painter's touch everywhere. It's a generous act of seeing, and then sharing that vision with us. Painters today are still grappling with the same questions about light, form, and feeling. It’s like we’re all in this ongoing conversation, bouncing ideas off each other across time.