Rustic Still Life

In 1921 the Norwegian painter and art dealer Walther Halvorsen lived on the Place du Palais-Bourbon in Paris, and this long, low canvas was most likely made for his flat there. It is 117 centimetres wide but only 58 tall, the shape of a panel meant to sit above a door. The museum reads it as a spring allegory in the manner of the 18th century. A straw hat and a basket of flowers suggest sunshine and gardening, while the wind instruments bring in music. The objects follow one another across the canvas almost like a row of notes. First come two flutes, one pale, one dark. Next are a pinkish-orange cloth with the yellow and red hat, then a basket filled with white blooms. None of them quite rests on anything. They hover over a dim, blurred ground of greens and greys.