Pablo Picasso Large Still Life with Pedestal Table

Annessa Chan:

Large Still Life with Pedestal Table is not a typical still life painting. The wobbly lines running across the pastel walls warp the interior, giving the painting a surreal mood. The curving and thick black outlines add a sense of motion, while the vivid colours have a cartoonish feel.

It’s clear that Picasso wasn’t trying to make a normal, conventional still life. Instead, he tries to bring a touch of whimsy and magic to this familiar genre of painting. The red-and-purple table even has a pair of dancing legs. It has a few other teasing elements as well. The yellow vase is sensually curvy, while the green and purple fruits resemble eyes or breasts.

There are many more playful details throughout the painting. What other associations can you find in these shapes? What parts are odd or confusing? Picasso turns a normal domestic scene into a fun visual puzzle with endless interpretations.

NARRATOR:

This work, titled Large Still Life with Pedestal Table, is an oil painting created by Pablo Picasso in 1931. It measures 195 centimetres in height and approximately 131 centimetres in width.

In the painting, thick black strokes outline an abstract pedestal table placed in a corner of a room. On the table are objects that resemble a vase, candles, flowers, and a table lamp, depicted in vibrant colours and smooth, curving lines. The entire scene looks warped and distorted, giving a sense of disorientation.

At the centre of the composition is a semi-circular pedestal table. The tabletop and the lower portion of the wall are coloured purple with thick black stripes, which suggests a patterned tablecloth. Half of the tablecloth covers the table, while the other half drapes towards the floor.

On top of the table are shapes in different colours representing different objects. On the far left, a candle flame is illustrated using three colours: green for the base, red for the middle, and lilac for the tip. On its right is a yellow vase about half the height of the painting. The vase has a slender neck, a round body that narrows at the base, and a delicate, vine-like handle on the right side. To the right of the vase is a large red flower, almost as big as the vase itself. Two pieces of round green fruit, each with a small black dot in the middle, sit before a red petal. Another petal, situated behind two pieces of pale purple fruit, drapes over the edge of the table. A white table lamp, with a slender stem and a wide lamp head and base, sits on the right. The lamp head is embellished with three purple circles, two of which are marked with a small black dot. The lamp casts a warm yellow glow on the right side of the table.

The pedestal has three curving legs: the left one is orange, the middle one white, and the right one green. Viewed alongside the fruit on the table, they look like an abstract human figure leaning against the table. The green fruit become the figure’s eyes and the pale purple fruit near the edge of the table resemble breasts, while the white table leg suggests an S-shaped body. The orange and green table legs and the purple circles on the lamp also suggest another figure standing split-legged behind the person leaning against the table.

Behind the pedestal table, the wall appears wainscoted, with the lower sections painted white. In the upper sections, the left side of the wall is lilac, while the right side is pale green. The floor is made up of purple chequered tiles outlined in brown and black.