In Pierre Dubreuil's carefully planned still life, ordinary objects—a musical score, tuning fork, and eye glasses—are given an air of mystery. The photograph reveals the artist's interest in bold light and shadow patterns, strong contrasts of tone, and distorted scale and perspective, achieved through the use of a close-up viewpoint and an unusual camera angle. A pioneering modernist little known until recently, Dubreuil's preoccupation with the dream world and the human psychological condition linked him with the Surrealists of Brussels and Paris.
