While studying in Paris in the early 1900s, Russian-born Max Weber met many of the avant-garde artists of the era, and his work reflects his personal investigations of such movements as Fauvism, Cubism and Futurism. For several years following his return to America in 1909, his art gave strong evidence of his assimilation of the modernist theories of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. By 1920, Weber had moved away from abstraction and his painting became more contemplative and poetic. Here, he explores a simple tabletop arrangement dominated by an elaborate silver teapot, its curved surface seemingly reflecting aspects of its surroundings. On either side, brightly colored pieces of fruit are nestled among assorted semi-abstract shapes suggesting tableware. Weber worked diligently in a variety of media including sculpture and the graphic arts. A prolific writer, he authored poems as well as books and articles on art theory.