Still Life in Green 1930

Helene Schjerfbeck made this still life in oils, and it’s like she’s wrestling with the color green. See how she’s pushing the paint around? It's not just about depicting fruit; it's about the materiality of the paint itself. Look closely – you can see the canvas texture coming through in places, little gaps and bumps that catch the light. Then there are these thick, creamy strokes defining the edge of the plate, almost sculptural. I love how the plate is not quite white, but a collection of greys and whites scumbled together. It reminds me of Morandi, but with a Scandanavian sensibility. Both artists used everyday objects to explore color, form and surface, but Schjerfbeck's touch is a little rougher, a little more… real. It’s like she’s saying, "Here, I’m not going to give you any answers; I’m just going to show you what I see, and you can figure it out."