Roses 1925

Samuel Peploe made 'Roses' with oil paint on canvas at an unknown date. Peploe's colour palette feels both deliberate and intuitive. He’s working with fairly simple shapes but look how he describes form with blocks of colour. The roses themselves are these soft, pillowy forms, created with subtle variations of pink and white. It’s like he’s not just painting what he sees, but also what he feels. The materiality of the painting is really interesting. You can see the texture of the brushstrokes, especially in the background. It’s not about hiding the process, but embracing it. There’s this one little dab of red paint, right in the centre of the bouquet, a single red rose among the pink. It's like a focal point, drawing your eye in and adding a touch of drama to an otherwise serene composition. I’m reminded of Manet, in how he captured fleeting moments with such raw immediacy. Just like in this still life, art is an ongoing conversation across time.