Eugène Tirvert - Still Life With A Bouquet

Still Life with a Bouquet by Eugène Tirvert (1881–1948).

Oil on canvas, signed lower right. Gilded frame.

Artwork: 65 x 50 cm; with frame: 81 x 66.5 cm

A painter of the Rouen School, Eugène Tirvert began his career by painting from life. He then painted landscapes of Rouen and its countryside until 1910.

Along with Derain, Vlaminck, and Matisse, Tirvert was a member of the Group of XXX beginning in 1907. From that point on, his palette featured brighter colors. In this large oil on canvas, the flowers in the bouquet are rendered with a realistic touch that makes them instantly recognizable. Tulips, poppies, and roses thus stand out against a deliberately dark background.

The treatment, meanwhile, avoids the subject’s static quality by giving ample room to movement—a hallmark of the modernity of his painting. Thus, the white fabric, which seems to rise, and the ascending lines of the table contrast with the flowers bending under their own weight. This interplay of two opposing movements creates a beautiful balance in the composition.