Interior with Japanese Print 1919

Samuel Peploe painted this interior scene with oil on canvas, and what strikes me is how he lays down these flat blocks of color, almost like he's building a little stage set. It's like he's saying, "Okay, let's see what happens if I put this blue next to that orange." The texture is pretty smooth, but you can still see the brushstrokes in places, especially in that tablecloth. It's not trying to trick you into thinking it's real. It's paint, plain and simple. The black chair in the foreground has got these lovely, solid lines; it almost looks like it’s cut out of paper. This piece reminds me a little of Bonnard, actually, the way he uses these domestic scenes to explore color and light. But Peploe has his own thing going on, a kind of Scottish take on French painting. It's all about the joy of seeing and the pleasure of making. It embraces the mess and loves the questions more than the answers.