Writing in 1863, the critic Zachary Astruc praised Fantin-Latour's flower paintings as "marvels of color and artistic sensibility . . . as compelling as they are charming. They are tonal rhythms, freshness, abandon, surprising vivacity." Such qualities are handsomely exemplified in this picture, painted five years later. Fantin-Latour's reliance on a simple compositional scheme—in his own words, "flowers in the middle and fruit around them"—proved a successful strategy. Here a vase of China asters, placed on the vertical axis and flanked by a plate of grapes and a grouping of autumn fruits, serves as a foil for the play of resonant color and inventive surface effects. An overall sense of vitality is created by the restless, animate quality of brushwork and by the application of paint in a spare, dry manner that makes use of the interstices between the strokes. By varying the texture and density of pigment, Fantin-Latour evoked the translucent quality of the vase, the veneer of the light-dappled mahogany tabletop, and the lushness of ripe fruit and freshly picked flowers. Moreover, by retaining the spirit of his pochades (quick studies from nature) and his moody, introspective self-portraits, Fantin-Latour succeeded in producing a still life of originality and distinction.