In the 1950s Matthew Smith was at the height of his career in Britain and although in the last decade of his life was no less prolifically producing art. He was awarded a CBE in 1949 and in 1950 he was chosen to represent British art at the Venice Biennale along with John Constable and Barbara Hepworth.

From the beginning of his career Smith was an ardent colourist and a key figure of post-impressionism in Britain. Living in a tiny flat in Chelsea Cloisters with a new studio nearby he was producing a series of ever more ambitious still-lifes. With broad brushstrokes applied in thin oil directly onto the canvas this still life reflects Smith’s bold exploration of fauvism. This work crops out the usual embellishments of the genre, enlarging the subject matter and rendering it exploration of colour, contrasting vibrant oranges and yellows with the rich blue-black work characteristic of his 1950s output.

‘Every movement of the brush on the canvas alters the shape and implications of the image. That is why real painting is a mysterious and continuous struggle with chance.’ – Francis Bacon on Matthew Smith.