This work by Stefan Kater holds the principles of a formal analysis of a Still Life painting.
We see painterly and linear forms. The painterly form is more elusive – attention is withdrawn from the edges, outlines are de-emphasized, it has a softer appearance, assisted with the light. In contrast the linear form emphasises the outline of the bottle giving it a special clarity and spatial separation in relation to the other objects.
This creates an absolute and relative clarity, here we see an independent unit, the bottle painted in an explicit and articulated form, with the work perceived in which other individual elements are less clearly articulated, yet it sits perfectly as one composition. The tour de force in this painting is the light and shade. This is a unique use of the Australian palette. The strong reds and yellows with an ochre colour could be placed nowhere else in the world but Australia and therefore it is a first in a Still Life painting.
