Still Life
Artist
Cady Wells
(American, 1904 - 1954)
Date1951-1953
MediumWatercolor, gouache impasto on paper
Dimensions21-1/2 x 29-1/221-1/2 x 29-1/2
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of the Cady Wells Estate, 1982
Object number1982.16.16
DescriptionAbstract still life on black background. Four vertical rectangles outlined in red. Box at L has 2 small bowls, 2nd box from L has plate & chalice, 2nd square from R has tall bottle & box at R has large bowl. All images outlined in red.eMuseum Notes
In the final years of Cady Wells's career, before his untimely death from a heart attack in 1954, he produced a series of still lifes, inspired by those of Paul Cézanne and his mentor Andrew Dasburg. Wells experimented with various stylistic approaches in these still lives. In this arrangement of a tabletop still life, Wells framed each of his objects in rectilinear compartments to suggest spatial difference and used contour drawing to create simplified forms. The varying color and texture in each compartment may be the influence of medieval stained glass, examples of which Wells had studied at Chartres Cathedral in 1952 and 1953.
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