Still life
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Fluttering butterflies
Beatriz Sánchez
Painting - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$3,410
L'atelier de l'artiste
Chittrovanu Mazumdar
Painting - 102 x 75 x 6 cm Painting - 40.2 x 29.5 x 2.4 inch
$3,410
Orange - surréalisme et imaginaire
Alyne
Painting - 20 x 20 x 2 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.8 inch
$142
1928 Underwood portable standard typewriter
Christopher Stott
Painting - 60.96 x 91.44 x 3.81 cm Painting - 24 x 36 x 1.5 inch
$6,212
La Lampe à Pétrole
Nicolas Carréga
Fine Art Drawings - 31.5 x 23.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 12.4 x 9.3 inch
$455
To meet the nightflower
Hans Innemée
Painting - 35 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 13.8 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
$2,956
Bread and fruits
Nina Stenshinskaya
Painting - 60 x 90 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch
$6,500
Very large still life with sterling
Gregory Hull
Painting - 101.6 x 127 x 2.5 cm Painting - 40 x 50 x 1 inch
$6,448
Partie de Campagne
Pierre Gaillardot
Fine Art Drawings - 23.5 x 31.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.3 x 12.4 inch
$398
Still Life With Red Scarf
Helene Halstuch
Painting - 101.6 x 91.4 x 3.3 cm Painting - 40 x 36 x 1.3 inch
$5,700
Still life with lemons
Nataliia Pavliuk
Painting - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$3,751
Detected Dictionnary (Wolfsschädel)
Stefan à Wengen
Painting - 30 x 25 x 4 cm Painting - 11.8 x 9.8 x 1.6 inch
$3,410
Milk glass vases
Bennett Vadnais
Painting - 28 x 35.5 x 1.27 cm Painting - 11 x 14 x 0.5 inch
$5,684
Vase and two flowers
Helen Zarin
Painting - 101.6 x 86.4 x 5.1 cm Painting - 40 x 34 x 2 inch
$3,000
Still life
Suzanne Tourte
Fine Art Drawings - 18 x 23 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.1 x 9.1 x 0.4 inch
$409
Daisy in a Beater Jar, Painting, Oil on Wood Panel
Karen Daigle
Painting - 20.3 x 25.4 x 0.8 cm Painting - 8 x 10 x 0.3 inch
$218
C'est à quelle heure
Nicole Pfund
Painting - 100 x 120 x 5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 47.2 x 2 inch
$3,297 $2,967
The Mysterious Appearance of the Georgia O'Keefe Mug
JJ Manford
Painting - 49.5 x 40.6 x 2 cm Painting - 19.5 x 16 x 0.8 inch
$9,998
Hackney Picturehouse.
Samuel Ryde
Photography - 67 x 47 x 1 cm Photography - 26.4 x 18.5 x 0.4 inch
$467
Richterstuhl (Judge's chair)
Lothar Fischer
Sculpture - 19 x 7 x 8.7 cm Sculpture - 7.5 x 2.8 x 3.4 inch
$2,728
Cuina verd, groc i gris
Montse Roldos
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 30 x 0.03 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$210
Young flower
Sergii Shaulis
Sculpture - 104.1 x 62.2 x 33 cm Sculpture - 41 x 24.5 x 13 inch
$11,500
Still life with fruits
Ottone Rosai
Painting - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$34,103
Nature morte au képi, épée et uniforme
Hermann Haller
Painting - 69.5 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 27.4 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$2,200
Nature morte aux moules
Clemente Tafuri
Painting - 37 x 65 x 2 cm Painting - 14.6 x 25.6 x 0.8 inch
$2,736
Sculpture, boîte et sacoche
Raoul Bovy-Lysberg
Painting - 48 x 62 x 2 cm Painting - 18.9 x 24.4 x 0.8 inch
$2,189
Past from Gold
Azeizah Alhassani
Painting - 80 x 65 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 25.6 x 1.2 inch
$17,052
Triclinium
Eleonora Drumeva
Fine Art Drawings - 47 x 62 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 18.5 x 24.4 x 0.8 inch
$273
Light fruit and blue carpet, still life
Efrain Vidal
Painting - 121.9 x 104.1 x 5.1 cm Painting - 48 x 41 x 2 inch
$6,400
Le chat rouge - Reproduction digigraphie
Angélo Pierlo
Print - 40 x 30 cm Print - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$171
Still life - bananas
Aldo Sergio
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 60 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 23.6 inch
$398
Which one for the people?
Alcides Calizaya
Fine Art Drawings - 100 x 80 cm Fine Art Drawings - 39.4 x 31.5 inch
$455
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…