Green Apples on Blue Cloth

Although primarily known for his figurative works depicting circus and stage performers, Walt Kuhn painted still lifes throughout his career and experimented with a variety of painting styles derived from European influences such as Paul Cézanne. Maine apples were a favorite subject in his still lifes, which became increasingly sophisticated over time with refined color and composition. Philip Rhys Adams writes of the present work, "...Green Apples on Blue Cloth of 1943 could be described as sheer elegance, a quality he denied himself in earlier treatments of the same subject." (Cincinnati Art Museum, Walt Kuhn: A Memorial Exhibition, exhibition catalogue, 1978, n.p.)