In the 1920s Jean Fautrier was part of a circle of artists, including Chaim Soutine and Marc Chagall, whose work grappled with subjects of human tragedy. Here, in a still life of discarded chrysanthemums, the flowers’ decay suggests moral decline and contrasts with the sensual, energetic paint application. Fautrier’s work became less figural over time, approaching total abstraction from the 1940s onward, but he continued to explore themes of suffering, erotic feeling, and death in these later works.
