Antoine Vollon (1833 - 1900) Still Life With Barrel And Copper

Oil on canvas. 44.5 x 36.5 cm. Signed lower right.
Antoine Vollon here displays the full measure of his mastery of still life in an intimate kitchen scene. In the dim light of a pantry, he gathers together a barrel draped with a cloth, a green glazed pot, a copper cauldron placed on the floor, a hanging ladle, a straw broom, and a rabbit suspended on the wall. In the foreground, a red mullet and a group of silvery fish bring further vitality to the composition.
The arrangement is built on a carefully balanced structure: the straight lines of the broom and the table contrast with the rounded forms of the barrel and the cauldron, giving the scene both stability and movement. The dense, vibrant paint surface conveys the variety of textures with striking precision — the gleam of metal, the warmth of wood, the satin sheen of ceramics, the shimmering of scales. A lateral light highlights key reflections, notably the golden interior of the cauldron, and guides the viewer’s eye from bottom to top.
The palette, restricted yet subtly nuanced, combines deep browns, muted greens, and luminous reds. It creates a sober atmosphere that recalls Chardin, while affirming Vollon’s modern realist approach. This work is exemplary of the “painter of things” so admired by his contemporaries.
An undisputed master of still life in the nineteenth century, Vollon was repeatedly honored at the Salons, awarded a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1878, made an officer of the Légion d’Honneur, and elected to the Institut.