Matisse painted this still life sometime between late 1905 and the beginning of 1906, when he still retained Neo-Impressionist blocks of color but also began to construct his pictures with flatter areas of color. With rhythmic brushstrokes, Matisse rendered space and objects alike in flat color planes. The green, white, and blue plate, the round red pitcher, and the yellow coffeepot are typical of pottery produced in the south of France. Similarly, the vegetables look as if they had just tumbled out of Matisse's shopping basket after a trip to the local market.

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