Buddha and Porcelain Buffalo, Private Collection.
Oil, 45.5 x 61 cms.
Still Life with Ming Vase (Private Collection).
Oil on board, 44 x 36 cms.
The Buddha (Black and Gold, c. 1929), Private Collection.
Oil on canvas, 76 x 63 cms.
Studio Interior (1923), Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow.
Oil on canvas, 76 x 63 cms.
Throughout his career Cadell experimented tirelessly with the genre of still life, which allowed him to experiment intensively with composition and colour. The still lifes of the 1920s are marked by their exploration of contrasting primary colours, complex reflections and the play of a harsher light than that which illuminates his earlier studio pictures. The depth of the room in this example is simply expressed by two opposing planes of intense blue, against which the primary red chair clashes in a highly graphic manner. The matte facture of the painting is masterfully contrasted with the crystalline reflective bottle, glass and table top, in which a complex play of reflections is mirrored.
Image courtesy of The Hunterian, University of Glasgow Gallery and Museum www.gla.ac.uk/hunterian/