Still Life With Chair Caning, Research Paper Example

Picasso’s Still Life with Chair Caning has added texture thanks to actual materials (not just oil) pasted onto the canvas. The oilcloth itself is also made to look like real caning. The canvas is framed with hemp rope, giving the appearance of a true wooden picture frame. The work is full of muted colors and mixed media. Picasso’s Portrait of Ambrose Vollard shows the face of a man that was originally painted by Cezanne. Silvery, architectural lines and shapes eventually form the more human-colored face. Even though the painting is geometric, the forms still appear surprisingly shallow.

Still Life with Chair Caning was Picasso’s experiment with texture. Because of this work, Picasso created a new form of art, “collage.” This still-life had an added element of reality due to its added material. Picasso challenged fine art and took art to a more commonplace level. Picasso applied his and Braque’s style of geometric art to Portrait of Ambrose Vollard, and he did so flawlessly. This painting and new style of painting showcased how modernist art had progressed.

Both works use the same muted coloring. There are elements of cubism in Still Life with Chair Caning, but Portrait of Ambrose Vollard utilizes much more cubism. Still Life is more dimensional than Portrait, if only for the added real media on top of the canvas. Both works show advances in the art world.