Still Life with Pomegranate and Grapes

In Still Life with Pomegranate and Grapes, Alvi Siren creates a richly atmospheric tabletop composition centred on fruit, bottles, and glass. An open pomegranate sits at the front of the arrangement, its deep red interior surrounded by clusters of grapes, pale lemons, two bottles, and a small liqueur glass, all set against a dark green-blue background.

The pomegranate becomes the visual and emotional centre of the painting. Its red skin and jewel-like seeds are painted with intense crimson, burgundy, and warm highlights, creating a vivid contrast with the cooler grapes around it. The surrounding grape clusters, rendered in pale blues, violets, and soft greys, spread across the table and bowl, adding rhythm and abundance to the composition.

Behind the fruit, two bottles introduce vertical structure. The taller corked bottle on the left contains a red flower-like form, while the shorter old-style bottle on the right brings warmer amber and brown tones into the scene. A small glass nearby adds a delicate ceremonial note, suggesting taste, gathering, and quiet celebration.

The background is expressive and abstracted, built from deep greens, turquoise shadows, and smoky blue passages. Rather than defining a precise interior, Alvi creates a textured atmosphere in which the objects appear suspended between still life and memory. The pale tabletop holds the arrangement together while allowing the surrounding darkness to deepen the sense of intimacy.

Rather than a conventional fruit still life, Still Life with Pomegranate and Grapes becomes a meditation on abundance, colour, and ritual. Through luminous grapes, open pomegranate, bottles, glass, and rich atmospheric depth, Alvi Siren transforms the table into a vivid image of gathered fruit, wine, and painterly richness.

ID 130

Medium: oil on canvas, framed
Canvas width: 50 cm
Canvas height: 50 cm
Frame width: 58 cm
Frame height: 58 cm

Year: 2001

Location: held in private collection