Who painted Landscape (recto); Study for a Still Life (verso)?

Landscape (recto); Study for a Still Life (verso) was painted by Alfred Maurer in 1911.

Where can I see Landscape (recto); Study for a Still Life (verso)?

Landscape (recto); Study for a Still Life (verso) is held by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

What movement is Landscape (recto); Study for a Still Life (verso)?

Landscape (recto); Study for a Still Life (verso) is associated with Cubism Synthetic.

Artwork

Landscape (recto); Study for a Still Life (verso)

Alfred Maurer , 1911

Landscape (recto); Study for a Still Life (verso) is an unspecified painting by the Cubism Synthetic artist Alfred Maurer. It dates from 1911 and is held in the collection of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

About this work

Overview

Created in 1911, this double-sided work by Alfred Maurer presents a landscape on its front and a preparatory still‑life study on the back. Both images are executed within the synthetic phase of Cubism, a movement that emphasized the assembly of flat planes and bold color fields to suggest form. The piece exemplifies Maurer’s engagement with avant‑garde ideas during the early twentieth century.

Subject & Meaning

The recto side offers a stylized view of an open terrain, reduced to interlocking geometric shapes that hint at horizon and foliage without literal detail. On the verso, Maurer sketches a composition of objects, likely fruit or vessels, using the same fragmented language, indicating a conceptual link between landscape and still life as complementary investigations of space and volume.

Technique & Style

Maurer employs the synthetic Cubist vocabulary of flattened surfaces, overlapping planes, and limited yet vivid coloration.

Maurer employs the synthetic Cubist vocabulary of flattened surfaces, overlapping planes, and limited yet vivid coloration. The brushwork is restrained, allowing the constructed shapes to dominate the visual field. By juxtaposing two distinct subjects on opposite faces, the artist underscores the method of constructing imagery through collage‑like abstraction rather than through naturalistic representation.

History & Provenance

Active in New York’s avant‑garde circles and exhibiting abroad, Maurer’s work was largely overlooked during his lifetime, receiving broader acknowledgment only after his death in 1932. The dual-sided painting entered public collections later in the twentieth century, reflecting a posthumous reassessment of his contribution to American modernism and the broader Cubist movement.