By the 1930s, Matthew Smith had established a reputation as one of the foremost British painters of his day. Arthur Tooth & Sons, then arguably London’s most prominent dealer, had recently taken him on for representation, and in 1929 mounted an exhibition of his work. Smith’s success in this period culminated in 1938, when he was selected as one of just six artists to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale. Importantly, the present work featured in this exhibition, where it was showcased on the international stage.
Encouraged by his new dealer, during the 1930s, Smith produced a plethora of flower paintings and still lifes, as they had proven to sell particularly well compared to his nudes and, over the course of this decade, he made more than 100 paintings in this genre, including Peonies and Pears. The practice of still life painting suited Smith, as it enabled him to be in full control of his subject within the static environment of his studio. He was then able to focus his attention on creating paintings with expressive, exuberant abandon.
Smith favoured painting alla prima, a wet-on-wet technique that allowed him to produce works rapidly, completing one in a single
session. This approach, which requires a profound confidence on behalf of the artist, as well as a deep understanding about how to control and manipulate paint, leaves little margin for error, with the first attempt being the final and only attempt. Painted when Smith was 55 years old, the present work wonderfully illustrates how, after a great many years of experiment, the artist had reached the pinnacle of true technical deftness.
Peonies and Pears has a freshness and vibrance that can be attributed to the its high key colour palette and the spontaneous
manner in which it was executed. Smith’s lively brushmarks dance across the canvas, appearing fluid and effortless. With Cézanne-esque modelling of form, hot fuchsias and pale pinks interspersed with blue define the ruffled heads of the peonies, while the yellows and greens of the pears form cool accents that counterbalance the overall warm tonality of the image. Using the same burnt sienna as the tabletop, Smith has outlined the individual still-life objects, grounding them in space. Smith tended to avoid painting perfectly straight lines parallel to the edge of the canvas and here, the tabletop is delineated with a long, undulating diagonal brushstroke, creating a rectilinear framework that contrasts with the organic forms of the flowers and fruit. Echoing this diagonal format, the still life cascades romantically, from the peony on the left through to the delicate flower stem leaves fanning out at the right edge like fingertips.