Painter and teacher Alberto da Veiga Guignard worked with all three classical themes of fine-art painting: landscape, portrait and still life. Among his still lifes are depictions of plates with whole fishes, tables that have been set, fruits and vegetables, and vases with flowers. This last topic reveals a decorative aspect of his work that is highly valued. In Vaso com flores [Vase with Flowers] (1950), at the center and occupying most of the canvas is a yellow vase decorated with a variety of flowers, such as calla lilies, daisies and other orange, violet, and red-hued flowers figuring less prominently, aside from the bouquet’s foliage. An intricate geometric pattern appears in the background, comprised of a white tablecloth with red and black stripes, a black background with white dots, and a checkered wallpaper in yellow and brown. The blend of background patterns adds to the intense floral diversity, which appears both as ornament and decorative pattern amidst the painting’s other elements. Despite the saturation and complexity of color, the delicate petals of the daisies in the foreground stand out, painted in subtle, nearly transparent whites, allowing the other flowers of the arrangement to be visible.
— Guilherme Giufrida, assistant curator, MASP, 2018
