Yellow Roses in a Vase — Gustave Caillebotte | Art Postcard

Painted at the threshold of Caillebotte's gardener years, this still life uses an almost ordinary household vase to set off a generous, half-spent bouquet of pale roses. Fallen petals on the tabletop are the central event — the roses are already past their best, the cloth marked by the weight of them — and Caillebotte paints this small decline with the same patient attention he brought to ripples on the Yerres or the geometry of his garden beds at Petit Gennevilliers. It sits apart from the grander flower pieces of his contemporaries in its modesty, closer to a private observation than a showpiece bouquet. A quietly beautiful card for anyone who appreciates a still life that doesn't pretend nothing ever falls or fades, and a natural companion to his later chrysanthemum and garden pictures. For more of Caillebotte's garden, park, and still-life postcards, browse the full Gustave Caillebotte postcard collection.