Simon-Auguste (French, 1909-1987)
Flowers in a Turquoise Vase
Oil on canvas

Signed Simon-Auguste. 16 ½ x 5 ¾ inches (42 x 15 cm), the frame 19 x 8 inches (48 x 20 cm). Gilt frame with a beaded sight edge, in good original condition.

The vase is the one solid thing in the picture. It stands in turquoise on a dark table, painted with gilt scrollwork and a light on its shoulder, and holds a bunch of flowers that opens wide against a brown damask wall. Pansies in blue and violet, two thistles worked in white and pink, a red tulip and an orange flower shaped like a butterfly are each drawn with a fine brush and a heavy outline. Two long stems break out of the mass and cross the dark blue band at the top.

Everything around the vase is kept flat. The table is three planes of olive and brown, the wall a repeated motif, and the signature runs along the front edge of the table. The back shows the canvas unlined on its stretcher, with an old number written across it in chalk.