Abstract Bouquet

This work demonstrates Carles’s achievement in pushing still life to abstraction. A passionate advocate of modernist painting, the artist fused the rigorous structure of Paul Cézanne with the joyous palette of Henri Matisse into his own painterly idiom. The vase anchors the composition, which balances dynamically on a table corner, and still-life elements seem to explode outward from the center. Barbara Wolanin, an authority on Carles, writes, “The viewer’s eye is drawn to the surface by the brilliant touches of color and varied textures, from heavy impasto to bare canvas. Triangles outlined in charcoal remain vital parts of the composition as if Carles were in the midst of trying out ideas and decided to stop when everything was working.” 

Born in Philadelphia, Carles had a staggering impact on the development of American modernism and abstract painting both through his own work and his role as a teacher. He was a powerful and controversial instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts who embraced the modern age and introduced his students to the work and ideas of the European avant-garde. Paintings by several of his students are in Woodmere’s collection, including Quita Brodhead, Jane Piper, Faye Swengel Badura, Bernard Badura, Jessie Drew-Bear, Elizabeth Godshalk Burger, Morris Blackburn, and Leon Kelly.

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Please note that work by this particular artist might not be on view when you visit.
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