Bouquet with lute

A tall, loosely painted bouquet of roses, gladioli and other garden flowers in yellow, pink, violet and white fills a dark glass vase at the center of the canvas. Beside it stands an empty stemmed glass on a turquoise cloth, with a rounded dark form tucked behind the blooms. Beyond the table, a sunlit shoreline with small houses, trees and blue water opens out under a pale, clouded sky.

Thick, confident strokes of palette knife and brush build up the petals and leaves in high-key color, contrasted with the cooler grey-blue of the distant water and sky. Light falls strongly across the foreground, picking out the glass and cloth, while the background is kept soft and hazy to push the flowers forward. The handling is bold and painterly, giving the still life an outdoor, sunlit vibrancy.