Basket of Apples a still life painting made by Paul Cézanne in 1895. The painting measures 65 x 80 cm, and the artist used oil on canvas fabric. The painting portrays a basket that seems to be spilling apples, and there is a wine bottle and a plate of cookies. The painting shows a disjointed view of the objects in an unbalanced position.
- The painting has diagonal, curved, horizontal and vertical actual lines. Horizontal lines symbolize stability of the surface while discontinuous to symbolize the edges. Diagonal lines on the basket and the cloth imply movement and instability where apples are about to fall out. The thick curved lines on the plate are likely to imply a state of rest and a sensual quality (Gantt & Anderson, 2009).
- The shape of the painting is representational with a three-dimension effect.
- The value in the painting is characterized by dominant dark color by the brightness of objects with low level of contrast to imply good mood and happiness. The space implies the amount of canvas available for the artist as well as depth in the basket and the room.
- The color of the painting combines light green, yellow, black, white and orange. The yellowish color on the painting might imply the source of light such as a candle since the room seems dark as portrayed by the bottle and the back of the basket. The hue combines green, red and with fades of yellows probably to imply the source of light. Bright colors may imply life or a jovial mood or celebration.
- Texture results from color combination, and in the painting, texture is in two-dimensions where apples seem to have a smooth while the basket appears rough. Texture is used by artists to determine the quality of their artworks in terms of fabric, surface or lighting.
In the painting, apples in and out of the basket form a unified basket of apples because of their proximity. In this case, since apples have close proximity, they belong to a group of a basket of apples. However, spilled apples are separate from each other, and some are falling to the ground, and they are perceived as separate. The painting contained by the surface of the canvas. Repetition of the same bright colors in yellow and light green throughout the painting may imply a certain theme especially life and fear caused by the instability. In the painting, closure helps the audience the relationship objects. Closure shows that the falling apples were part of a basket of fruits although they are not inside the basket. Continuity is portrayed by lines that define the direction and breakage in the end.
3. Different varieties of objects have been used to make a unified complete picture, which seems in the painting as a meal with fruits and a drink. The balance of the painting seems chaotic and unstable objects are falling down probably because of the weight. The proportion of the painting portrays dominance because objects have taken much of the space. The incidence portrayed in the painting shows a movement of the basket tilting to the right because of an unstable base. More emphasis has been directed to the apples because they have taken most of the space. The artist might have implied a specific theme with the basket of apples and the state of unrest caused.
References
Gantt, L., & Anderson, F. (2009). The Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale: A Measurement System for Global Variables in Art. Art Therapy, 26(3), 124-129. doi:10.1080/07421656.2009.10129372
The J. Paul Getty Museum. (n.d). Understanding Formal Analysis. Retrieved from http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/formal_analysis.html
