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Fruit in the Leading Role

© Susan A. Wenz-Denise

Fruit has got to be one of the most popular still-life subjects in the history of oil painting. As I sit here munching on my mid-afternoon snack of red globe grapes, examining the visual harmony amongst the textures of their skin, pulp and seeds, it is no wonder to me why fruit has often found itself to be the focus of very famous still-life oil paintings. Fruit is the ultimate painter’s study in its texture, shape and appeal.

From the viewer’s point of view, fruit shall forever be a preferred subject for a decorative painting. It symbolically represents abundance and reminds the viewer of the sweet, subtle enjoyment of life. Even today, with all our advances, a painting of fruit is reminiscent of a favorable climate giving way to a plentiful harvest and consequently happy times. Although the viewer may not ponder so intently on the pleasures of fruit and why decorating the walls with depictions of different varieties of fruit is so appealing, still-lifes of fruit are nonetheless extremely popular.

Beyond fruit's being appealing to viewers, it is also an ideal subject for the artist. The predictable shapes of the most common fruits are very suitable for studying the fundamentals of art. Round fruits like oranges and apples help an artist understand the basic elements of art as they apply to a spherical object. Pears add some complexity to the understanding of light and shadow, as the odd almost cone-like shapes reflect light and cast unique shadows in numerous places. Grapes are also a great study in that they allow the mastering of painting spherical objects within a cluster that has a shape of its own. Fruit is also a convenient still-life because it is readily available and is fairly durable for a live specimen.

Paul Cézanne is arguably the best still-life painter in history. Fruit was almost always among the objects in his still-lifes. He used the fruit, mostly apples and oranges, as simple compositional elements to form an intricate arrangement of line and color. His use of the pieces of fruit makes a Cézanne still-life actually surprisingly fragmented in composition and color. If one attempted to put the same arrangements together in reality, it would be impossible because of how Cézanne manipulated the objects in his paintings. Yet, his paintings are amazingly calm and very harmonious. Cézanne actually carefully calculated all the components of the painting and their relationship with each other so that when the painting is viewed from a reasonable distance, the composition and color actually form a cohesive still-life without suspicion. The effect is a hauntingly calm and unified still-life, and one that I believe would be impossible to recreate using anything other than fruit.

Cezanne Compotier, Pitcher, and Fruit , 1892-1894

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