This is an original oil painting called Red Still Life, which was done in the Impressionist tradition rather than the academic tradition. One difference between these two traditions is that in academic, or traditional art, emphasis is placed on the value (light or dark) of a color, rather than on the color itself. In this value approach, modeling and shading are used to indicate three dimensions in forms. With the Impressionist approach, the emphasis is less on value than on color, and the forms and space are more flat than three-dimensional. There is not the illusion of forms receding in space, as in traditional art. This is the tradition of Monet, Bonnard, and others, where instead of light to dark (white to black), we have purple, red, blue, yellow, etc. It is a simple still life of dried flowers and some dishes, which has a red background (not staying in the background like a good academic background should); this activates intense color relationships with the blues and purples in the painting. This painting is framed with a plain, painted wood frame.
