The artwork titled “Still Life on a Piano” is a creation by the renowned artist Pablo Picasso, completed in the year 1911. This oil on canvas masterpiece measures 19 3/4 by 51 1/2 inches (50 x 130 cm) and is part of the analytical cubism art movement, a genre of still life. It is located in the collection of Heinz Berggruen in Geneva.
Upon examining the artwork, one is greeted by a complex array of shapes and fragmented objects, which is characteristic of Picasso’s work during the analytical cubism period. The colors are muted and the composition is dense with overlapping and intersecting planes that suggest the forms of a piano and other elements pertaining to a still life. Soft, earthy tones dominate the work, with subtle gradations imparting form and depth to the fragmented objects. The artwork is dissected into multiple geometric facets, allowing the viewer to perceive the still life from several viewpoints simultaneously. Typography elements are also incorporated into the work, and Picasso’s signature is discernibly placed. The reduction of color and the emphasis on line and form are hallmarks of the analytical cubism phase that the artist co-founded, reflecting a deconstruction of conventional perspectives and traditional forms of visual representation.
