Fruit and Drapery by Saul Kovner

This complex still life plays with how the natural world makes its way into artistic forms and representation. A grouping of fruit at upper left is echoed in the fabric’s shapes at lower right, as with the bell pepper’s distinctive shape. A pear at middle right is easy to overlook because its colors blend in. Meanwhile, a ceramic teapot is painted with its own colors and floral designs (referenced in another fabric). There are three distinct pieces of cloth, whose patterns multiply by reversal and draping. In the background is either a painting of sky upon the wall, or Kovner’s painted sky for this composition.