L'œuvre en bref

In this still life, Nicolas de Staël continues his work on everyday objects treated as autonomous forms. At this stage in his career, he no longer seeks to faithfully describe the elements represented, but rather to construct the image through relationships between volumes, colours and materials. Kitchen utensils thus become a pretext for a stable pictorial organisation, stripped of any narrative context.

The composition is dominated by a uniform mauve background, applied in large, visible brushstrokes. In the foreground, a light-coloured frying pan occupies the centre, identifiable by its circular shape and horizontal handle. A thick red area marks the inside of the pan. In the background, several dark grey, white and black vertical shapes suggest bottles or containers. The contours remain open and irregular, while the dense, layered paint structure the space with sharp contrasts between light and dark.

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