Still Life with Ephemeris 1914

Curator: This is Louis Marcoussis' "Still Life with Ephemeris," created in 1914. Marcoussis was a Polish-born artist who became a key figure in the Cubist movement. The artwork before us is a mixed-media piece, predominantly oil paint, reflecting the artist’s experimentation with the genre. Editor: It strikes me immediately as something melancholic, even with its geometric angles. The palette is quite muted – lots of greys, browns, with that solitary patch of blue, almost like a memory. Curator: Interesting point about melancholy. Marcoussis painted this during a particularly turbulent period in Europe, just before the outbreak of World War I. Cubism, in a way, reflected the fragmentation and uncertainty of the era. It moved from depicting objects realistically, instead focusing on form and geometry to capture the essence of things. Editor: Precisely. The material components – the textured paint, the suggestion of wood grain, even the 'Ephemeris' calendar itself – become charged objects. They speak of process, labor, of making sense through material handling. The materiality pushes against the abstract nature, giving it grounding. Curator: Right. And the title itself, "Still Life with Ephemeris," directs us to think about the temporal nature of the artwork itself. An Ephemeris tracks celestial positions; relating back to larger cultural concepts tied to modernity and how society engages time and knowledge. Editor: Notice the texture of the paint. You can see the brushstrokes and the build-up of layers, really emphasizes the handcrafted quality. There is a clear sense of materiality within an intellectual style. Curator: It is hard not to see its influences from Picasso and Braque; the fractured planes, the reduction to essential forms... Marcoussis carves out his own artistic language within the tenets of Cubism. Editor: Agreed, yet this feels…distinct. Perhaps it’s the restrained palette and its subtle narrative undertones. Material and social environment impacting Marcoussis at the genesis. Curator: The war changed art irrevocably, leading to Dada, Surrealism and completely changed cultural attitude towards art and society in ways unimaginable before. Editor: Very insightful to examine this artwork today. The tension between abstraction and tangibility offers a tangible connection with a tumultuous time, felt even a century later.