Basket with Fruit (2022)

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Oil on canvasTraditional grisaille and glazing techniquePresented in a bespoke 24kt gold leaf, white-washed Baroque frame. In Basket with Fruit (2022), Studio 198 revisits the quie t intensity of Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit, translating its timeless stillness through a rigorously traditional process. Executed in oil using classical grisaille underpainting followed by multiple translucent glaze layers, the work was built slowly and deliberately — light emerging from shadow through patience rather than immediacy. This historic technique creates depth that cannot be replicated through direct painting alone; luminosity appears to rise from within the surface itself. The fruit — suspended between ripeness and decay — retains the symbolic tension that defined the original Baroque meditation on mortality and abundance. Yet here, the reinterpretation introduces a contemporary clarity: forms are rendered with restraint, atmosphere softened, and the background warmed to emphasise material richness over theatrical drama. The painting is presented in a bespoke, hand-finished frame crafted specifically for this work. The moulding draws from Baroque ornamentation and has been gilded in 24kt gold leaf before being subtly white-washed, allowing the carving to breathe rather than overpower. The frame does not merely contain the painting — it completes it, extending the historical dialogue between artwork and architecture. This is a one-off original. Show more