Flowers by the Window was painted sometime between 1924 and 1926, soon after Pallady had moved to 12, Place Dauphine. The square, where Brâncuşi had also lived for a while, was a highly reputable address in central Paris.

The studio window frames a still-life consisting of a flower pot and a newspaper, which take up the foreground. As we gaze into the distance, we see the banks of the Seine, the left side of the river and the city rooftops. The painting’s metaphor reveals itself in the contrast between foreground and background, between the inside and the outside. For Pallady, the cozyness of his little studio and the colours of the flower pot are more than enough on a rainy, monotonous day.

From the late 19th c. until 1939, Pallady lived and work most of the time in Paris. During his study years in the studio of Gustave Moreau he had befriended Henry Matisse. This friendship also resulted in Matisse’s famous painting “The Romanian Blouse” at the Museum of Modern Art (Centre Pompidou) in Paris.

See more works in the Romanian Modern Art Gallery