Musical Instruments
Evaristo Baschenis Italian
Not on view
Silence reigns in this somber painting, in which all the instruments strewn over the massive table have broken strings and are unplayable. Decaying apples reinforce the vanitas message of the transience of life. Yet Baschenis incites the urge to touch by rendering everything with palpable veracity; the open drawer, crumpled scores, and silky ribbons appear to project outward, as if within one’s grasp. Baschenis had been all but forgotten outside his native Bergamo when his signature was deciphered on the table leg of this painting. Published in 1908, the discovery prompted great interest in his work, just as the Cubists embarked on their dialogue with trompe l’oeil painting.
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