Still Life 1923

Gosta Adrian-Nilsson made this unnamed Still Life with paint on canvas. The flat planes of color feel like a construction, almost architectural. The painting is a little like making a collage, decisions being made on the fly. The paint has a smooth surface and there’s not much evidence of brushwork. The colors are muted and earthy, but also surprisingly vibrant. Look at the little yellow rectangles, they almost hum against the red backdrop. My eye keeps getting drawn to the tiny checkerboard pattern, and the way it clashes with the flatness of the surrounding areas, which hints at some kind of depth. Adrian-Nilsson’s painting reminds me a little of Juan Gris, who also played with hard-edged forms and collage-like compositions. Both artists reveal the way paintings operate as a conversation between multiple voices and points of view. Ultimately, it’s that embrace of ambiguity that makes art such a compelling medium.