Still Life with Fruit

Hermenegildo Bustos executed much of his work on copper, a medium that demands extremely fine craft, a skill in which he excelled. One of the few pieces he painted on canvas is the current Still Life with Fruit (with scorpion and frog). This painting features an array of vegetables and fruits at various stages of ripeness, arranged in receding planes against a white background, resembling shelves. 

In this work, Bustos portrays various agricultural products harvested in different seasons that he likely encountered in the State of Guanajuato, where he lived. 

In the first row, we see a Poblano chili, a Chilaca chili, a halved tomato, two plums in different positions, and, curiously, a frog. The second row includes a group of prickly pears, a scorpion, three apricots, and two sapodilla plums. The third row showcases three figs, a watermelon, a pomegranate with its skin burst open, an avocado with its pit exposed, and a cocoa bean. The last row contains a banana, an apricot, and a pear. The interior and exterior of these items are visible, with some cut deliberately and others burst from overripening.

This painting is on the cover of our amazing Food & Drinks 50 Postcards Set; if you'd like to have some of the most delicious paintings in your postcard collection, check it out here, in our DailyArt Shop!  :) 

P.S. Bustos was one of Mexico’s most renowned painters ... and he was self-taught! Take a look at the fascinating art of Hermenegildo Bustos.