Playing Card, Fruit Dish, Glass

Pablo Picasso Spanish

Not on view

A streamlined version of the neoclassical, early nineteenth-century French Empire style became fashionable for interior decoration shortly before the outbreak of World War I. Picasso echoed this trend by depicting a console table with a beaded edge and an imperial porphyry top (made with faux granite wallpaper); paneling in an off-white tone (the natural color of the paper plus ruled graphite lines and shading); and a towering fruit dish resembling a classical column (a cutout painted white to distinguish it from the paneling). Beside the cutout of a bunch of grapes are staring, eye-like forms that may represent cross-sections of the fruits. The duo of wineglass and ace of clubs—the lucky card—appears in many of Picasso’s collages, likely signifying conviviality.

Playing Card, Fruit Dish, Glass, Pablo Picasso (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France), Cut-and-pasted printed wallpaper, laid and wove papers, oil and graphite on paper

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