Modernist Still Life with Books Bottles and Blue Interior French Gouache

Title: Modernist Still Life with Books Bottles and Blue Interior French Gouache
Guy Nicod (French 1923 – 2021)
Gouache on artist paper, unframed
Size: 19 x 22.5 inches (height x width)
Provenance: Artists estate, France
Condition: Good overall with light handling marks and faint edge wear, consistent with age

Description:
A vibrant and architecturally composed French modernist still life by Guy Nicod, this richly detailed gouache on paper captures the expressive harmony of colour, light, and form within a domestic setting. The composition presents a study of a bookcase crowded with bottles, books, and decorative objects, painted in rhythmic, angular planes of blue, green, yellow, and red. Nicod transforms this everyday interior into a kaleidoscope of abstraction and structure—each element carefully balanced within a dynamic geometric frame.
Rendered in thick, velvety gouache, the scene pulses with energy and depth. The top shelf glows with bright yellow bottles, vases, and small red and green accents, offset by pale lavender blooms and a dotted yellow sphere that adds a whimsical note. Below, open books and angled papers suggest a moment frozen mid-activity, evoking both movement and stillness. Nicod’s characteristic layering of opaque and translucent tones creates a sense of rhythm reminiscent of early Cubist and Fauvist painting, while his distinct use of line and shape grounds the work in modernist precision.
Collectors drawn to post-war French abstraction, interior still lifes, or mid-century colour studies will appreciate this work’s vitality and compositional intelligence. Its scale and clarity make it particularly striking in contemporary interiors, offering a sophisticated yet playful nod to European modernism. Unframed and ready for bespoke presentation, this original gouache exemplifies Nicod’s unique vision—transforming domestic order into painterly invention through a confident, modernist lens.