Lot 263 D

This is one of Camoin's early still lifes, created subsequently to his Fauvist period. The years from 1908 to 1913 are referred to as the “période noire” within his oeuvre (Danièle Giraudy, Camoin, Sa vie, son oeuvre, Lausanne 1972, p. 61). In 1902 the artist had met Paul Cézanne, whose work he greatly admired and under whose artistic influence he stood at that time. In Paris, where Camoin had lived since 1898, he became close friends with Marquet, with whom he undertook numerous journeys within Europe. Soon, leading Parisian dealers, such as Berthe Weill, Druet and Kahnweiler, had already become interested in Camoin and were buying his works. A part of the works he produced also went to Germany, where Ludwig Schames acted as his dealer.
Variously coloured fruits have been arranged on a blue-and-white porcelain plate, which in turn stands on a table or tray bounded by two horizontal bamboo sticks. With its deliberately chosen simplicity and darker tone, this element is subordinated to the depiction of the enticing, abundantly filled plate of fruit. The composition has lost its static balance on account of the tilted surface. Depth, space and mass are articulated primarily through colour, even if they have been subjected to a constructive logic. Early works by Charles Camoin - like the present still life - only rarely become available on the market.