SKULL WITH CANDLE 1917 Oil on cardboard 35 x 35 cm

During the First World War, Evard painted some oil paintings in a very picturesque and classical style. In doing so, he worked with the horrors and cruelties of war in very dark tones. An example of this is a haunting vanitas still life from 1917.

It is to be understood as a metaphor for the transience of all worldly things, which is symbolised by the skull, the withered red flowers and the burnt candle. A heavy, velvety green curtain also reveals a back room in which three ghostly beings dance.

The upper left edge of the picture is signed by Evard in red letters with “Louvrier” (worker). As is well known, the artist used this pseudonym between 1912 and 1919 and is to be understood as a socio-political statement.