Fruit Dish on a Garden Chair

Painted in 1890 in Brittany during the period between his first and second Tahitian stays, this still life shows Gauguin working with the simple objects of domestic life — fruit on a garden chair in the open air. The outdoor setting creates an unusual hybrid between still life and landscape genres. Gauguin was in an unsettled state at this time, planning his escape from France to Tahiti. Now at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the canvas shows his mature European style fully developed just before his definitive departure for Polynesia.

The composition plays on the contrast between the geometric human object — the garden chair — and the organic forms of the fruit. Colour is rich and unhesitating — deep reds, bright greens, strong yellows — applied with Gauguin's characteristic flat boldness. The outdoor light creates strong shadows that are nevertheless handled with decorative intent rather than naturalistic precision.