17th - 20th century · transparency, reflection and structure

Wanli bowl by Kalf, silver cup by Zurbaran, cubist carafe by Juan Gris and goblet by Chardin show how the tableware constructs the space through its reflections and its edges.

The tableware forces the painting to represent what contains, reflects or lets see. Willem Kalf combines glassware, fruit and Wanli bowl in a luxury still life where import, light and material build prestige. Zurbaran on the contrary reduces the whole to a cup of water and a rose on a silver platter: transparency, metal and flower acquire an almost devotional intensity. Chardin places carafe, silver goblet and fruit in a balance where each reflection remains contained by the weight of the object. Juan Gris fragments carafe, silver goblet and fruit in a balance where each reflection remains contained by the weight of the object. Juan Gris fragments carafe, silver goblet and glass into cubist planes, but keeps handle, ellipse and transparency as clues. From baroque luxury to modern reconstruction, tableware is a real optical machine. The selection "Still lifes with tableware, glassware and silverware" notably compares Still life with fruit, glassware and the Wanli bowl and A cup of water and a rose on a silver platter. His reading favors the story.

Painted glass is almost never seen by its material alone: it is revealed by what it distorts, contains and reflects.