1883 Pansies and Books and Birthday Wishes Trompe l’Oeil Oil on Board Paul Valery and I believe would have

and I believe would have been used for medicine or perfume

) rising from the opening of the shoe

standing for its maker

and the handle is wrapped

they are great looking

1883 Pansies and Books and Birthday Wishes Trompe l’Oeil Oil on Board Paul Valery and I believe would haveIve been drawn like a magnet lately to paintings with solid black grounds so satisfyingly graphic, and amplifying the sense of significance and symbolic weight to the subjects portrayed. And I love any sort of troupe loeil, especially with books in it! This one appears to have been painted as a present, marking the occasion of the recipients birthday on an April 8. 1883. Curiously, the painted text on that page of the book seems first to have read