Bread or Apple Tray 1936

Eugene Shellady made this painting of a Bread or Apple Tray sometime in the 20th Century, and it feels like he’s working with a memory of something, rather than the thing itself, you know? The way the paint is layered, it’s almost like he’s building up the object, trying to find its form through the act of painting. There’s this beautiful muddiness to the colors, a real sense of the material. Look at the way the light hits the side of the tray, that creamy, thick paint. It’s like he’s wrestling with the object, trying to pin it down. The decorative motifs are really interesting too, they feel both precise and kind of wonky. And the shadow underneath – it’s not just a shadow, it’s like a little abstract painting in itself. You can see echoes of someone like Milton Avery in the way Shellady approaches color and form. It's a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation, always questioning, always searching.