Still life
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Vivid Poppies in Bloom
Mateos Sargsyan
Painting - 50 x 35 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 13.8 x 0.8 inch
$450
Dead Flowers In A Water Jug 4
Simon Findlay
Painting - 20 x 15 x 2 cm Painting - 7.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inch
$281
I (Cattleya)
Zornitsa Gramkova
Photography - 90 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$1,169
Marilyn Monroe Lips print (1)
Tyler Shields
Photography - 76.2 x 76.2 cm Photography - 30 x 30 inch
$5,000
King Shot to Death in Memphis
Tyler Shields
Photography - 57.2 x 76.2 cm Photography - 22.5 x 30 inch
$5,000
Cerulean Dreams of Poppies
Arto Mkrtchyan
Painting - 60 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$500
Still life with yellow poppies and a cup of tea
Simona Tsvetkova
Painting - 40 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$843
Bedtime Cleansing Ritual
Ian Stone
Painting - 71 x 76 x 4 cm Painting - 28 x 29.9 x 1.6 inch
$3,663 $3,114
Radiant Blossoms
Shahen Aleksandryan
Painting - 60 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,200
Hotel Chelsea, New York. Room 330
Victoria Cohen
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,300
Big bang sur papier 33
Joëlle Kem Lika
Painting - 20 x 20 x 0.1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$225
Big bang sur papier 31
Joëlle Kem Lika
Painting - 20 x 20 x 0.1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$202
Nada mejor que con el abuelo
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 252 x 180 x 3 cm Painting - 99.2 x 70.9 x 1.2 inch
$5,337
Bouteilles 1
Marie Dominique Ferracci
Painting - 82 x 65 x 2 cm Painting - 32.3 x 25.6 x 0.8 inch
$551
Bouteilles 2
Marie Dominique Ferracci
Painting - 82 x 65 x 2 cm Painting - 32.3 x 25.6 x 0.8 inch
$551
Jewel of the Orchard
Sergey Miqayelyan
Painting - 24 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 9.4 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
$250
The Pomegranate Tapestry
Arto Mkrtchyan
Painting - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$450
Fleurs au vase bleu
Pierrick Tual
Painting - 70 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$2,584
Dreams by the window
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 90 x 90 x 2.5 cm Painting - 35.4 x 35.4 x 1 inch
$1,596
Sisters in Bloom, original painting by Ukrainian artist Tetiana Pchelnykova
Tetiana Pchelnykova
Painting - 100 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,292
Portrait of Silence
Arman Hayrapetyan
Painting - 80 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$4,500
Textured sunflowers (1)
Anush Emiryan
Painting - 30 x 20 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.8 inch
$120
Purple Crocus Elegance
Anush Emiryan
Painting - 30 x 20 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.8 inch
$120
Pomegranates: A Textured Contrast
Hasmik Mamikonyan
Painting - 30 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$199
Mantón y mesa con frutas
José Luis Pagador Ponce
Painting - 100 x 73 cm Painting - 39.4 x 28.7 inch
$8,428
What the rose tell me
Irina Trushkova
Painting - 30 x 25 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0.8 inch
$1,124
Introspection 8
Benedicte Caillat
Painting - 30 x 30 x 1.5 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.6 inch
$1,236
Introspection 6
Benedicte Caillat
Painting - 34 x 25 x 1.5 cm Painting - 13.4 x 9.8 x 0.6 inch
$1,348
Introspection 4
Benedicte Caillat
Painting - 30 x 30 x 1.5 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.6 inch
$1,236
Salumi e formaggi
Sergio Ceccotti
Painting - 50 x 35 x 1 cm Painting - 19.7 x 13.8 x 0.4 inch
$3,146
Window view 14 - Cherry .rar
Low Bros
Painting - 40 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
$2,809
Sill life with cherries
Simona Tsvetkova
Painting - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,066
Geranium
Gaelle Beyaert
Fine Art Drawings - 26 x 18 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 10.2 x 7.1 x 0.8 inch
$270
Still life with peonies
Galya Popova
Painting - 40 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,686
Life is not a Fairytale (3)
Tyler Shields
Photography - 121.9 x 182.9 cm Photography - 48 x 72 inch
$25,000
Marilyn Monroe Lips print (3)
Tyler Shields
Photography - 152.4 x 152.4 cm Photography - 60 x 60 inch
$25,000
Marilyn Monroe Lips print (2)
Tyler Shields
Photography - 114.3 x 114.3 cm Photography - 45 x 45 inch
$10,000
King Shot to Death in Memphis (2)
Tyler Shields
Photography - 160 x 213.4 cm Photography - 63 x 84 inch
$50,000
King Shot to Death in Memphis (1)
Tyler Shields
Photography - 114.3 x 152.4 cm Photography - 45 x 60 inch
$25,000
You are my sweet strawberry berry
Lilya Volskaya
Painting - 50 x 60 x 0.2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,011
A & M Cafe - Arts et Métiers, Paris 3ème
Linda Moufadil
Painting - 60 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,798
Dare To Be Blue. From the Schinkel Enfilades - Interiors Series
Celia Rogge
Photography - 152.4 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 inch
$8,250
Bouquet of red roses
Natalya Mougenot
Painting - 30.5 x 23 x 0.1 cm Painting - 12 x 9.1 x 0 inch
Sold
In the things order
Mikhail Baranovskiy
Painting - 100 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$2,023
In Good Spirit for Today
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$551
A Little Pomegranate
Delyafruz Bagirova
Painting - 24 x 18 x 2 cm Painting - 9.4 x 7.1 x 0.8 inch
$292 $197
Exuberant Peonies and a Little Thing Called Love in a form of a Young Blue Dog
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 90 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$551
Lemons & books - Italian painting still life
Andrea Borella
Painting - 80 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 31.5 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$787
How Lucky to Have a Rear Window View
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$551
How do you Think I Feel?
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$551
To Step onto the New World
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 30 x 30 x 3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 1.2 inch
$551
To Step onto the New World
Joanna Glazer
Painting - 30 x 30 x 3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 1.2 inch
$551
The Blue Vase
Anna Krtshatsyan
Painting - 24 x 29 x 0.5 cm Painting - 9.4 x 11.4 x 0.2 inch
$393 $354
T. Bone Walker, New York, 1965 (Appollo Theater Harlem)
Hervé Gloaguen
Photography - 40 x 50 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 inch
$2,023
Still life
Although at its heart a classic subject, the still life was the preferred approach of Cézanne, the artist who paved the way for art to enter its most modern phase. From Cubism to Hyperrealism via Pop art, sculpture, and photography, almost all art forms have been at some point shown that it is still possible to breathe new life into this age old theme.
Be it completely de-structured, funny, classic, or minimalist, the contemporary still life is far from old fashioned, despite the fact that it boasts a long, celebrated history.
Let's take a closer look at this theme that recurs so often across art history… even in antiquity, Pliny had already written about a painter called Piraikos, known for his paintings of 'provisions for cooking', and the optical illusions of Zeuxis, from which it was said that birds would try to pick off the raisins because they looked so real. The conventional still life as we know it today, however, dates back to the 17th century, where it developed in Holland under strict aesthetic codes.
Generally, oils on canvas were the preferred method for representing inanimate objects of varying types (lots of fruit, fish, game…) and flowers. The colours were muted, the background a monochromic black, the atmosphere heavy, and the light at a steep diagonal angle. There were few elements but they were precisely arranged and loaded with religious symbolism.
Even though still life was never considered a genre in its own right, almost all of the great masters have tried their hand at it at some point or other. Across the 19th century, all the art movements went through a still life phase: romanticism, impressionism, symbolism… and under the brushes of Degas, Cézanne, Monet, etc., still life evolved.
Little by little, artists added colours, erased the biblical references and replaced them with everyday objects in ever greater numbers: cooking utensils, cups of coffee, gas lamps, musical instruments…
In the 20th century, modern art once more dusted off this 'boring' subject, and began to play with its strict codes. From cubism to pop art to surrealism, all of the artistic movements made their mark on still life. Bit by bit, they took it to pieces and rebuilt it, moving ever closer to the contemporary still life, which has little to do with the original genre except for its central theme.
After his separation from Olga Khokhlova in 1936, Pablo Picasso painted 'Still Life Under a Lamp' whose plastic elements suggested themes that would later be developed in his famous 'Guernica' the following year. Pale lamplight dominates the triangular composition in the centre of the canvas and the arms of the antique sculpture appear to be on the verge of falling off the table. Although the piece altogether seems to move away from the classic still life, it maintains the traditional heavy atmosphere.
In 1956 the Catalan surrealist painter Salvador Dali painted 'Living Still Life' in his typical humorous style. The canvas – divided in two to represent night and day – shows a table on a balcony. The elements (wine, water, a pear, a knife…) are in motion, or rather levitating, as though someone has just struck the tabletop.
Artsper invites you to explore a range of contemporary still life pieces that are both traditional and surprising in our unique selection. Discover the work of Syvie Andlauer Baruch, Gonzalo Sicre, Zbigniew Wozniak, and many more…