Still Life with Jars

Van Gogh spent the summer of 1885 working outdoors, and in September and October he came back inside to his studio in Nuenen and built a group of seven still lifes out of the same household pottery. In this one, four stoneware jars, a bottle and a white bowl. He had been reading the French critic Charles Blanc on colour, and what he tests here is Blanc's idea that complementary colours strengthen each other, every object taking its character from whatever sits beside it. His palette was still tonal, so the result stays dark. The brushwork has loosened and thickens in places, and his perspective has not caught up with it. The jar lying on its side looks as though it floats just above the table.