The artwork entitled “Still life with Goblet” is a creation by the renowned artist Pablo Picasso, dated to the year 1914. It is an oil painting executed on panel, embodying the distinctive aesthetic of the Cubist movement, to which Picasso made significant contributions. The piece measures 21.9 by 15.8 centimeters and falls under the genre of still life. Currently, this artwork is housed within a private collection.
The artwork exhibits classic cubist characteristics, displaying a deconstruction of form and a multiplicity of viewpoints. The central focus of the piece is a goblet, presented alongside what appears to be a half-sliced fruit, possibly an apple, against the backdrop of a draped cloth. The goblet is rendered with a geometric simplification, depicting its cylindrical structure with bands of parallel lines that suggest its curved surface. The fruit, with its own segmented portrayal, complements the goblet, contributing to the composition’s exploration of form and space.
The color palette of the artwork is warm, yet subdued, with different shades of brown, beige, and ochre dominating the scene. There is a discernible contrast between the textural quality of the goblet, cloth, and backdrop, which imbues the still life with a tactile sense of realism within the abstract framework of Cubism. Light and shadow are manipulated to underscore the three-dimensionality of the objects despite their fragmented representation.
Overall, “Still life with Goblet” exemplifies Picasso’s innovative approach to painting, encapsulating the essence of Cubism by reaffirming its conceptual challenge to traditional perceptions of perspective and form.
