The Pomegranate

The Pomegranate presents a reconstituted image of the world based on the fragmented nature of visual experience. The typical trappings of a cafe table — bottles, a glass, a pipe, a cigarette, and fruit — are indicated by black outlines and touches of paint rather than being thoroughly described. The words “Cafe 3,” as if stenciled on a window, introduce a note of spatial depth, even as the other elements of the painting deny it. The purported subject of this painting, the pomegranate, resembles a dissected hieroglyph, with its recognizable crown-like calyx on one side and seeds scattered about; the viewer is reminded that Picasso selected a fruit that explodes into brilliant fragments when opened.