Still Life with a Jug and a Bowl of Apples 1924

Samuel Peploe made this painting of a still life, using oils, probably in his studio. I really get a sense of how Peploe is carefully considering the relationships between all the objects, positioning and repositioning them. What’s so cool is that it’s not just a simple arrangement; it feels like a thought process laid out in brushstrokes. The brushstrokes are so solid, really deliberate, not fussy at all. They are loaded with paint but not in an overdone way. I imagine Peploe stepping back, squinting, adjusting the angle of the bowl, maybe adding another apple, all the time trying to figure out how to capture the essence of these humble objects. It reminds me of Cezanne, how he kept at it, trying to get to something beyond the surface, searching for the underlying structure. It’s like they're both having this conversation across time, pushing each other to see and understand in new ways.