Que reste-t-il de nos… fruits ? Réflexions sur les restes de fruits dans les arts figuratifs

Abstract

The aim of the study is to examine the representation of fruit in the figurative arts, looking for the signs of decay and also of the destruction of time. Two cases will be examined: firstly, we will observe a number of seventeenth-century fruit still lifes, in order to identify the signs of disintegration of living matter. Considering the perspective of the reception of these paintings, we will also reveal that the image of decomposing fruit appeals not only to the sense of sight, but also to the viewer’s other senses. We will then analyse an impressive example of contemporary art: the statues of apple cores by the Hungarian sculptor Attila Rajcsók, which illustrate the artistic shaping of living matter that has been almost entirely destroyed. These sculptures call into question the apparently durable yet more or less ephemeral nature of all works of art.