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Abalanced array of elements composes this Cubist still life where various objects are presented on a table covered with a fringed white cloth. Among them stand out a fruit bowl with grapes, a bottle and a glass, a pipe and a book. The composition is related to Synthetic Cubism for it respects the identity of each of the objects portrayed, preserving their limits in a naturalistic manner. The sober formal and chromatic harmony that characterised this painter¿s work is obvious in this canvas, which anticipates resources that would be adopted by Braque a few years later. In spite of the evidently restrained descriptions of the space and the objects, the vibration of the planes of colour and the sensuality of the rhythms achieved through the use of light imbue the work with unusual life.

Of Polish descent, like Jean Marcoussis, another well-known Cubist painter, Hayden settled in Paris in 1907. Influenced by Cézanne, Gris and Lipchitz, Hayden employed Cubist principles until the early 1920s, from when he began to distance himself progressively from Cubism before arriving at Lyrical Abstraction around the year 1950. [J.V.]

Selected bibliography

• Tesoros del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : pintura, 1400-1939 [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, El Viso, 1989. pp. 138-139, n° cat. 56.
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 165.
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 165.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 165.
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. p. 167, n° cat. 118.
• Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. p. 167, n° cat. 118.
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 167.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 167.
• Bilboko Museoaren alfabetoa = El alfabeto del Museo de Bilbao = The alphabet of the Bilbao Museum = L'alphabet du Musée de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 256-257, n° cat. 148.