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A work made of oil on canvas.

Still Life Reviving (Naturaleza muerta resucitando)

1963

Remedios Varo Spanish, active Mexico 1908-1963

Spain

Still Life Reviving, Remedios Varo’s final painting, transforms the quietude of a traditional still life into a supernatural scene. Set in a Gothic tower, a table for eight begins to levitate. Above it, apples, peaches, pomegranates, and strawberries orbit like planets in a solar system.

The emergence of new life is a common theme of Varo’s work of the 1960s. Here, in addition to the seedlings sprouting up, the cloth itself seems animated. Everything flows into the vortex, except four mosquitos that look on warily as the fruits collide.

This is one of thirty-five works that comprise the Winterbotham Collection. Click here to learn more about the collection.

Oil on canvas

Modern Art