Still Life with Aubergines

The oil and canvas painting is yet another beautiful and colourful artwork by Henri Matisse. He painted it in 1911 and used fauvism and lots of colours to relay his ideas and thoughts.

Also known as Still Life with Eggplants, the painting has some rich colours as it illustrates the careful placement of different objects and items in the room. There is a door, a window, a table, and a curtain that the artist uses to bring a still life theme. It gives an illusion of flat space, but this may not be the case. Taking a deeper look, the premise looks like a room. The room has a table at the centre and a table cloth with a jar covered with a lid, a candle, two fruits on a white plate and three eggplants on the surface.

On the wall, the viewer can see lots of colours and patterns, with the most dominant one being a greenish mat with white patterns. On the greenish mat is another brown, smaller, and rectangular mat. The smaller mat has some bright yellow and black floral patterns. On top of this are other paintings or artworks; one with an inverted conical wide-mouthed cylinder, another with a white and blue pattern, and the last one with a white and brown pattern. The floor is purple with some blue flowers. In the far background, the painter used a darker shade of purple with similar flowers to the floor. These items are carefully used to bring in a deep colour, colour contrast, and deep space. A viewer cannot tell whether it is a room or a compositional space.

According to art enthusiasts, still, life pictures fall under the category of realistic paintings. They are perceived to represent quiet and real-life with day to day activities. After taking a closer look at the painting, a viewer can see that three eggplants, which according to Matisse, showed the many options in life. In this piece, he showed the world his perspective of decoration in still life. Every part and item in the painting is horizontally on the same level. Even the window looks like a normal decorative element and not an opening. Only two objects can be seen to stand in the painting vertically; the jug and the figurine on the table.

Today, you can find the painting at the Museum of Modern Art as a celebrated creative and colourful artwork. The museum mainly deals with all artwork that ignites cultural, artistic, social, and themes. While at the Museum, visitors can also view famous Henri Matisse's works with still life themes.