Still life 1914

Andre Derain made this "Still Life" painting with oil on canvas, and you can really see the hand of the artist at work. The colours feel both considered and haphazard, you can see he is thinking about the relationship between colours as much as the subjects themselves. Look at how Derain has rendered the objects. The brushstrokes are so full of energy, and you can really see the texture building up on the canvas. There's this juicy, tangible quality to the paint, like you could reach out and touch it. Take that orange paint on the palette, it feels almost carved out of paint, which in turn mimics the carving of the palette itself. It’s like he’s translating real life into paint, and then back again. This reminds me of Picasso's cubist still lifes, they were friends, after all! But Derain's got this wilder, more expressive thing going on. It’s like he’s saying, "Here's what I see, but also here’s how I feel about it.” And that makes all the difference.