Still Life. Peaches and Jug

"If you truly study an object you can draw it with one single outline, which will express it precisely", wrote Matisse. The artist's still lives include many of his favourite objects, which appeared over the course of many years, and which seemed almost to take on an individual character through appearing in so many works. Amongst them were the jug from this drawing, participant of so many of Matisse's compositions. Although there is nothing to indicate the table on which the objects stand, Matisse manages to create a sense of its presence simply through the use of a few lines to place the objects in space.