From a distance, this still life, the first Cubist oil painting to enter Leonard Lauder’s collection, appears to be an unfinished gouache because of the dry and translucent quality of the colored strokes. The genre of still life allows an artist to demonstrate dexterity in rendering finishes and textures. Picasso reveled in moments of ambiguity that lead the viewer to wonder where the light source is located, how many pears are depicted, and why the carafe and glass are shown from above while the candlestick is seen from slightly below.
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Inscription: Signed [possibly at a later date] (lower right, in gray paint): Picasso
[Ambroise Vollard, Paris, in 1932]; [Galerie Pierre (Pierre Loeb), Paris, by January 1936; inv. no. 934]; Richard Goetz, Paris (probably late 1930s); Walter Bareiss, Greenwich, Connecticut (by 1958–late 1970s; sold in late 1970s to Thaw); [E. V. Thaw & Co., Inc., New York (late 1970s–1980; sold in April 1980 to Lauder]; Leonard A. Lauder, New York (from 1980)
Paris. Galerie Georges Petit. "Exposition Picasso," June 16–July 30, 1932, no. 54 (as "Nature morte au chandelier").
Kunsthaus Zürich. "Picasso Retrospective, 1901–1931," September 11–October 30, 1932, extended to November 13, 1932, no. 49 (as "Stilleben, Wasserflasche, Fruchtschale, Kerzenstock," lent by M. Ambroise Vollard, Paris).
Barcelona. Sala Esteva. "Picasso (organized by ADLAN [Amics de l'Art Nou])," January 13–30, 1936, no. 16 (as "Nature morte, peinture").
Bilbao. Arte: Salón de Exposiciónes. "Picasso (organized by ADLAN [Amics de l'Art Nou])," February 19–25, 1936, no catalogue.
Madrid. Centro de la Construcción. "Picasso (organized by ADLAN [Amics de l'Art Nou])," March 7–25, 1936, no. 5.
New York. Museum of Modern Art, Guest House. "50 Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bareiss," April 23–May 11, 1958, no. 37.
New Haven. Yale University Art Gallery. "Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture Collected by Yale Alumni," May 19–June 26, 1960, no. 90.
Munich. Neue Staatsgalerie. "Sammlung Walter Bareiss," Summer 1965.
Munich. Neue Pinakothek und Neue Staatsgalerie. "Französische Meister des 19. Jahrhunderts / Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts," 1966, no. 63.
New York. Xavier Fourcade. "Twentieth Century Paintings and Sculpture: Matisse to de Kooning," March 29–April 30, 1977, unnumbered cat. (as winter 1909).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective," May 22–September 16, 1980, unnumbered cat. (p. 134).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism," September 24, 1989–January 16, 1990, unnumbered cat. (p. 140).
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Picasso & Things: The Still-Lifes of Picasso," February 26–May 3, 1992, no. 18 (as "Carafe, Compote, and Candlestick").
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Picasso & Things: The Still-Lifes of Picasso," June 7–August 23, 1992, no. 18.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Picasso and Braque: After Cézanne," November 9, 1996–February 25, 1997, extended to March 2, 1997, no catalogue.
Essen. Museum Folkwang. "Cézanne and the Dawn of Modern Art," September 18, 2004–January 16, 2005, unnumbered cat. (p. 85).
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Cézanne and Beyond," February 26–May 31, 2009, unnumbered cat. (pl. 79; as "Carafe, Compote, and Candlestick").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection," October 20, 2014–February 16, 2015, no. 60.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. "Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible," March 18–September 4, 2016.
Exposition Picasso. Exh. cat., Galerie Georges Petit. Paris, 1932, p. 25, no. 54 (German ed., p. 4, no. 49).
Guillermo de Torre. Picasso: noticias sobre su vida y su arte, con una bibliografia. Exh. cat., ADLAN (Amics de l'Art Nou). Madrid, 1936, unpaginated, no. 5, as "Naturaleza muerta con una botella".
Picasso presentat per ADLAN (Amics de l'Art Nou). Exh. brochure, Sala Estera. Barcelona, 1936, unpaginated, no. 16, as "Nature morte, peinture".
Christian Zervos. Pablo Picasso. Vol. 2a, Works from 1906 to 1912. Paris, 1942, unpaginated (list of plates), no. 187, pl. 92, as winter 1909.
Joan Merli. Picasso, el artista y la obra de nuestro tiempo. 2nd ed. (1st ed.,1942). Buenos Aires, 1948, p. 600, ill. no. 180, as "Frutas y objetos".
50 Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bareiss. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, Guest House. New York, 1958, unpaginated, no. 37, ill.
Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture Collected by Yale Alumni. Exh. cat., Yale University Art Gallery. New Haven, 1960, p. 87, no. 90, ill. p. 86.
Sammlung Walter Bareiss. Exh. cat., Neue Staatsgalerie. Munich, 1965, p. 18, no. L.1019, pl. XIII.
Französische Meister des 19. Jahrhunderts. Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts. Exh. cat., Neue Pinakothek und Neue Staatsgalerie. Munich, 1966, unpaginated (catalogue), p. 21 (illustrations), fig. 63.
Franco Russoli and Fiorella Minervino. L'opera completa di Picasso cubista. Milan, 1972, p. 103, no. 310, ill. p. 102.
William Rubin inCézanne: The Late Work. Ed. William Rubin. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1977, p. 191, ill. p. 194.
Françoise Cachin and Fiorella Minervino. Tout l'oeuvre peint de Picasso, 1907–1916. Paris, 1977, pp. 103–4, no. 310, ill. p. 102, as winter 1909.
Twentieth Century Paintings and Sculpture: Matisse to de Kooning. Exh. cat., Xavier Fourcade. New York, 1977, unpaginated, ill.
Pierre Daix and Joan Rosselet. Picasso, The Cubist Years, 1907–1916: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings and Related Works. 2nd ed. [1st ed., 1979, French]. Boston, 1979, pp. 70, 249, no. 316, ill., and p. 75, pl. XIX, as "Carafe and Candlestick" [Pears, Bowl of Fruit, Carafe, Wineglass and Candlestick]
(French ed., as "Carafe et chandelier [Poires, compotier, carafe, verre et chandelier]").
William Rubin, ed. Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1980, ill. p. 134.
William Rubin, ed. Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1989, ill. p. 140 (German ed., 1990, p. 134, fig. 88; French ed., 1990, and Spanish ed., 1991, ill. p. 134).
Josep Palau i Fabre. Picasso: Cubism, 1907–1917. New York, 1990, p. 502, no. 441, ill. p. 155, as "Still Life with Candelabrum".
Jean Sutherland Boggs. Picasso & Things: The Still-Lifes of Picasso. Exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, 1992, p. 76, no. 18, ill. p. 77.
Christian Geelhaar. Picasso: Wegbereiter und Förderer seines Aufstiegs, 1899–1939. Zürich, 1993, p. 41.
George Heard Hamilton. Painting and Sculpture in Europe, 1880–1940. 6th ed. New Haven, 1993, pp. 238, 240, 595, ill. no. 133.
William Rubin inL'Estaque: Naissance du paysage moderne, 1870–1910. Exh. cat., Musée Cantini. Marseille and Paris, 1994, p. 71, ill. no. 62.
Felix A. Baumann, Walter Feilchenfeldt, and Hubertus Gassner. Cézanne and the Dawn of Modern Art. Exh. cat., Museum Folkwang, Essen. Ostfildern-Ruit, 2004, pp. 82, 236, ill. p. 85.
Richard Shiff inCézanne and Beyond. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 2009, p. 70, ill.
Joseph J. Rishel and Katherine Sachs, ed. Cézanne and Beyond. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 2009, p. 535, pl. 79.
Tobia Bezzola. Picasso: His First Museum Exhibition, 1932. Exh. cat., Kunsthaus Zürich. Munich, 2010, pp. 198, 218, Zürich no. 49, ill., listed in the catalogue for Exh. Zürich 1932 as "Stilleben, Wasserflasche, Fruchtschale, Kerzenstock," 1909, lent by M. Ambroise Vollard, Paris.
Eduard Vallès inPicasso 1936. Huellas de una exposición. Exh. cat., Museu Picasso. Barcelona, 2011, pp. 57, 275.
Picasso 1936. Huellas de una exposición. Exh. cat., Museu Picasso. Barcelona, 2011, pp. 71, 131, ill. pp. 77 (installation photo, Exh. Barcelona 1936), 138–39 (installation photo, Exh. Barcelona 1936), 204 (color), listed as "Nature morte. peinture" in the list of lenders; referred to as "Naturaleza muerta" on p. 77; listed as "16 - Nature morte, peinture" in the 1936 Barcelona exhibition booklet reproduced on p. 131; referred to as "Botella, frutero y candelabro (Naturaleza muerta)" on p. 204
.
"Objects Promised to the Museum during the Year 2012–2013." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, One Hundred Forty-third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (2013), p. 46.
Michael FitzGerald inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 43–46, 304(3)nn.38, 41, no. 60, ill. p. 45 (color).
Anna Jozefacka and Luise Mahler inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, p. 284, fig. 60 (cited p. 25 in Ref. Paris 1932).
Emily Braun and Leonard A. Lauder inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, p. 8.
Alan Hyman, ed. The Picasso Project: Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, and Sculpture, A Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue, 1885–1973. Vol. 1909–1912, Analytic Cubism. San Francisco, 2015, pp. 68, 321, 330, no. 1909-147, ill. p. 68.
"The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection: A Conversation with Emily Braun and Pepe Karmel." IFAR Journal 16, no. 3 (2015), p. 39, fig. 11 (color).
Diana Widmaier Picasso inUnfinished: Thoughts Left Visible. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. New York, 2016, PP. 191, 308, pl. 145 (color).
Philip Segal. The Art of Fact Investigation: Creative Thinking in the Age of Information Overload. New York, 2016, n.p. and pp. 10, 17, ill. color p. 12, fig. 2 and detail ill. back cover.
Vérane Tasseau. "Lauder, Leonard A." Dictionnaire du Cubisme. Ed. Brigitte Leal. Paris, 2018, p. 405.
Carol Armstrong. Cézanne’s Gravity. New Haven and London, 2018, p. 62, fig. 33 (color).
Written on the verso (top of vertical stretcher crossbar, in chalk): 54; (top of vertical stretcher crossbar, in black pencil): 1910 [encircled] [over chalk inscription]; (top of vertical stretcher crossbar, in pencil): Galerie Pierre / No934; (middle of vertical stretcher crossbar, in black ink): W.B. 1–5 [Walter Bareiss]; (vertically at bottom of vertical stretcher crossbar, in blue crayon): 03366; (left corner of top stretcher bar, in black pencil): AV [encircled]; (left of top stretcher bar, in blue pencil): K Z [partially obscured by E. V. Thaw label]; (center of top stretcher bar, in black pencil): Pierre [partially obscured]; (lower center of left stretcher bar, in brown ink): M Goetz / 108 Bd Montparnasse; (bottom of left stretcher bar, in black pencil): 13
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