Nature Morte au Poron

This late Picasso still life develops Cardiff's outstanding collection of late nineteenth and early twentieth century French paintings and give a sense of PicassoÂ’s impact on British artists in the postwar period. Oil paintings by Picasso from 1948 are relatively uncommon. At this time PicassoÂ’s chosen subjects were portraits of his partner François Gilot, their son Claude, and still life. These paintings share a flat angularity and are more brightly coloured than the sombre palette employed during the War years. In Nature Morte au Poron the elements of the still life - a lemon, a lobster and a ‘poronÂ’ (from porrón - a traditional Spanish wine pitcher) – have been placed on a table, tipped towards the picture plane in typical cubist device. Lobsters and crabs were a subject often used by the artist, while he employed the porrón as a sexually charged symbol as early as 1906.