In creating his "fungus accretion" vases, Simon brushed the rough surface of a ceramicvase with a clay-and-water solution until it built upon itself like a hand-dripped sand castle.
"Sunflowers" (1888 or 1889), from Philadelphia's own collection, is a virtuoso performance in color harmony, showing a ceramicvase of perky yellow blossoms against a swirling cerulean background, but it is entirely orthodox from a compositional standpoint, as the vase sits squarely in the middle distance at eye level.