Tonal Study: Bowl of Fruit

Bridget Riley's Tonal Study: Bowl of Fruit, 1952-55 was created during her time at Goldsmith's College in London working under the artist Sam Rabin. Using conté crayon, which can achieve varying levels of gradation, Riley began to explore her compositions tonally. This exploration, emphasizing bolder, less detailed formal investigation, allowed Riley to pursue form in a more abstracted manner. In a 2019 interview with Sir John Leighton, Riley credited the tonal works she created in Rabin's class with allowing her "to understand the principles of pictorial abstraction." This understanding is evident in the blunt application of the conté and the deep tonal contrasts which evoke the bowl's presence in space. Riley's early studies were for her an essential building block as she began grappling with more complex spatial and coloristic compositions later in her career.