Still Life, Walter Dexter; oil on canvas; 14 x 18 inches (35 x 46 cm), in the colection fo the King’s Lynn Town Hall.
Engliah painter Walter Dexter was active in late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was known for his landscapes in oil and watercolor. He also painted other subjects, including still life; and this one just caught my attention.
I love how controlled and subtle this is. The colors of the fruit in the foreground look bright, but are actually quite muted. It’s the values and colors of the area surrounding them that makes them appear bright.
The shadows are handled wonderfully, and particularly so the platter that’s almost lost in the shadow around it.
I don’t know about you, but when I first looked at this image, my eyes went directly to the highlight area of the vase. Only then did they curve around through the bottle and the arrangements of fruit.
If I think of it this way, almost every major shape in the composition points at the jug in a way. The curve of the shadowed platter aims right down into the vase. The angle of the bottle points to the jug, as do the lines of the fruit and the triangular shape of the bunch of grapes. Even the negative space behind the jug can ne interpreted as a kind of arrow pointing down. Am I seeing too much in this?
Wonderful textures in the fruit, the wicker wrap on the bottle, the woven mat, and the loose strands at the lower right.