Man eet aan tafel waarop glas en schaal met fruit staan Possibly 1893 - 1895

Louis Valtat created this woodcut, called "Man eet aan tafel waarop glas en schaal met fruit staan", using stark black and white contrasts to depict a man at a table laden with fruit and a glass. Valtat was working at a time of immense social change in France, at the turn of the 20th century, a period marked by the rise of modernity and anxieties about tradition. The image is stripped down, almost primal. We are confronted with the raw essence of consumption. The man's face, etched with deep lines, hints at the toil and stories etched by time. The fruit, a symbol of nature's bounty, sits before him, an offering, or perhaps a challenge. Valtat was associated with the Fauvist movement, and "Man eet aan tafel waarop glas en schaal met fruit staan" conveys a rawness of emotion, and directness of expression. The reduction of form to its bare essentials asks us to consider the foundations of human existence. The black and white palette evokes the stark choices we face as humans, and calls us to reflect on the tension between simplicity and complexity.