Still Life

As long as nature has inspired the artist, paintings of flowers have existed. They remind us of just how beautiful the natural world in all of its wildness can be. But even when these fragments of nature are picked from the landscape and carefully arranged and staged for a still life, the artist uses the floral aesthetic to direct gaze. Whether highlighting beauty or challenging the toxic nature of it, floral works have a subject matter that is instantly recognizable. Thus they remain at the artist's behest to portray such natural wonderment, or indeed to distort the expectant beauty of flowers and allow the imagination to run wild. Think of the sunflowers, forget-me-nots, daisies, roses and poppies of Gustav Klimt, drenched in color. Klimt's Bauerngarten (or Country Garden) painted between 1905 and 1907 truly captivates the viewer, with a balance between harmony of colors and freedom of composition. Perhaps the floral painting in all of its hues can draw attention to the demise of nature and contemporary artists can ensure that humans save it before it is too late. Such artists that can be found on Artsper include Zoltan Gerliczki and indeed Christine Beaufils, who uses the flower to tell her stories.