Fiasco e Bicchiere (Flask and Glass) - Carlo Carrà

A seminal work by Carlo Carrà, this 1917 still life combines oil and collage to explore the quiet, mysterious nature of everyday objects.

Carlo Carrà produced this work during his transition from the dynamism of Futurism to the stillness of Metaphysical Art. The composition features a flask and glass, rendered through a combination of oil paint and collage elements. By incorporating fragments of printed text and paper, Carrà engages with the visual language of Cubism, yet he reorients these techniques toward a different objective. Rather than focusing on the fragmentation of objects in space, he uses these materials to construct a sense of quiet, suspended reality.

The colour palette relies on muted ochres, deep blues, and earthy browns, which ground the objects against a textured background. The inclusion of newspaper clippings provides a tactile quality, inviting the viewer to examine the surface of the canvas as a physical object. The arrangement of the flask and glass appears deliberate, almost staged, reflecting the artist's interest in the mysterious presence of everyday items when removed from their usual context. This approach characterises the Metaphysical style, where ordinary subjects take on a sense of weight and permanence.

Carrà was a central figure in the development of Italian modernism. His shift in 1917 marked a departure from his earlier focus on speed and industrial progress. Instead, he turned his attention to the classical tradition and the quietude of the studio. This piece serves as an example of his experimentation with mixed media, demonstrating how he balanced the influence of international avant-garde movements with his own developing aesthetic. The work remains a study in how simple, domestic objects can be transformed through careful composition and the juxtaposition of varied textures.