Fruit and a Jug on a Table is an oil and sand on canvas, signed
JMetzinger, lower left, and inscribed on the reverse;
Peint par moi / en 1916 / Metzinger. The work represents a diverse grouping of objects—a bowl of fruit, a carafe (or jug), a glass, and a bottle labelled
BANYU.
Banyuls-sur-Mer is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, located near
Cerbère and
Collioure. The foothills of
Pyrenees run into the
Mediterranean Sea in Banyuls-sur-Mer, creating a steep cliff line.
Banyuls-sur-Mer is known for its wines, such as the sweet wine
Banyuls: a
fortified apéritif or dessert wine made from old vines cultivated in terraces on the slopes of the French and Catalan Pyrenees. The style of
Fruit and a Jug on a Table, its colors, the placement of objects and the background textures differ from Metzinger's earlier
Crystal Cubist style of 1914–1916. According to Joann Moser, this work was most likely executed around 1917 or 1918. , 1890–1894,
Fruit and a Jug on a Table, oil on canvas, 32.4 x 40.6 cm,
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston , c.1895,
La vase paillé (Ginger Jar and Fruit), oil on canvas, 73 x 60 cm,
Barnes Foundation, Pennsylvania
Fruit and a Jug on a Table represent a more naturalistic approach expressed by the artist after 1917. Temporal and spatial effects are more subdued. The multiple perspective and
Riemannian geometry seen in his 1910–1912 works is no longer to be seen overtly, yet the perspective reminiscent of
Paul Cézanne—the angle of the table and the still life elements on it—are unmistakably active, still. Decorative patterns likewise present, and surface impasto, visibly thicker and more ubiquitously prevalent than previous years, are typical of Metzinger's 1917–18 works. ==Provenance==