Still life
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Cosmic Flowers
Tamar Sulakvelidze
Painting - 30 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
£7,110 £6,043
Landscape with a Moon Jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Fine Art Drawings - 130 x 259 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 51.2 x 102 x 1.2 inch
£19,552 £16,619
Landscape with a Moon Jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Fine Art Drawings - 62 x 110 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 24.4 x 43.3 x 1.2 inch
£5,332
Landscape with a Moon Jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Fine Art Drawings - 130 x 162 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 51.2 x 63.8 x 1.2 inch
£13,331
Landscape with a Moon Jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Fine Art Drawings - 130 x 162 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 51.2 x 63.8 x 1.2 inch
£13,331
Landscape with a Moon Jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Fine Art Drawings - 130 x 259 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 51.2 x 102 x 1.2 inch
£19,552
Landscape with a Moon Jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Fine Art Drawings - 89 x 145 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 35 x 57.1 x 1.2 inch
£10,665
Fleur de Caractère
Hildegarde Handsaeme
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
£1,066
Landscape with a moon jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Painting - 89.4 x 145.5 x 5 cm Painting - 35.2 x 57.3 x 2 inch
£10,576
Landscape with a Moon Jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Fine Art Drawings - 62 x 110 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 24.4 x 43.3 x 0.1 inch
£5,332
Landscape with a Moon Jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Painting - 75 x 135 x 3 cm Painting - 29.5 x 53.1 x 1.2 inch
£7,998
Landscape with a Moon Jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Painting - 75 x 135 x 3 cm Painting - 29.5 x 53.1 x 1.2 inch
£7,998
Landscape with a Moon Jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Painting - 75 x 135 x 3 cm Painting - 29.5 x 53.1 x 1.2 inch
£7,998 £6,799
Landscape with a Moon Jar
Mun-Hyun Cho
Painting - 75 x 135 x 3 cm Painting - 29.5 x 53.1 x 1.2 inch
£7,998
Corridor chess
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 130 x 97 x 0.3 cm Painting - 51.2 x 38.2 x 0.1 inch
£2,213
Guitare et Figurine
Mercedes Aparicio
Painting - 79 x 69 x 1.8 cm Painting - 31.1 x 27.2 x 0.7 inch
£7,554
Cobra et Chaussures
Nathalie Roux
Photography - 24 x 36 x 0.2 cm Photography - 9.4 x 14.2 x 0.1 inch
£53
On the Sand the Blue I
Gersony Silva
Painting - 100 x 100 x 4 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
£3,555
Still Life in the Spring Garden
Alexandr Kryushyn
Painting - 70 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
£2,755
Jasmine Morning
Alexandr Kryushyn
Painting - 70 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
£2,844
Lilac and Spring Sun
Alexandr Kryushyn
Painting - 70 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
£2,844
Bouquet of irises
Alexandr Kryushyn
Painting - 70 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
£2,844
Still life with peppers
Igor Sventitski
Painting - 100 x 125 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 49.2 x 0.8 inch
£5,510
Glass elegy no. 13
Joseph Adolphe
Painting - 101 x 76 x 4 cm Painting - 39.8 x 29.9 x 1.6 inch
£14,753
Oriental still life
Andrey Chebotaru
Painting - 119.4 x 109.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 47 x 43 x 1 inch
£4,976
A gift from summer
Rachael Dalzell
Painting - 155 x 135 x 6 cm Painting - 61 x 53.1 x 2.4 inch
£4,950
Meat Grinder
Grigol Chirinashvili
Painting - 67 x 44 x 0.2 cm Painting - 26.4 x 17.3 x 0.1 inch
£5,243
Flaming 13
Juan Pablo Castro
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£2,488
The Broken Chain
Juan Pablo Castro
Photography - 61 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 36 x 0.1 inch
£2,488
San Francisco Shoes (Mounted on wood pegboard)
Roberto Fonfria
Painting - 120.9 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 47.6 x 48 x 1 inch
£2,903
Quo vadis, homine II
Eleonora Drumeva
Painting - 113 x 95 x 2 cm Painting - 44.5 x 37.4 x 0.8 inch
£2,133
Still life - pomegranates
Stepan Ohanyan
Painting - 24 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 9.4 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
£166
Vibrant Blossom Vignette
Mateos Sargsyan
Painting - 40 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
£373
Bouquet de Fleurs et Poires
Claude Gaveau
Print - 55.6 x 73.5 x 0.2 cm Print - 21.9 x 28.9 x 0.1 inch
£400
Nimrod Semiramis Tammuz
Martin Wojnowski
Painting - 120 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
£2,222
Untitled #8. From the series There is an ocean in my glass
Ying Chen
Photography - 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
£3,317
Untitled #7. From the series There is an ocean in my glass
Ying Chen
Photography - 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
£3,317
Sans titre (Un poème dans chaque livre Paul Eluard) Ref BDNW2916
Alberto Giacometti
Print - 44.5 x 32.5 cm Print - 17.5 x 12.8 inch
£8,443
Pomegranates with a jug
Albert Kechyan
Painting - 45 x 59.9 x 0.8 cm Painting - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.3 inch
£5,164
Abstract flowers in vase-2 (palette knife)
Mateos Sargsyan
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
£415
Still lives with bananas
Kamsar Ohanyan
Painting - 40 x 30 x 4 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 1.6 inch
£311 £265
Untitled #3. From the series There is an ocean in my glass II
Ying Chen
Photography - 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
£3,317
Untitled #6. From the series There is an ocean in my glass
Ying Chen
Photography - 152.4 x 203.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 inch
£3,317
Untitled #5. From the series There is an ocean in my glass
Ying Chen
Photography - 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
£3,317
Untitled #4. From the series There is an ocean in my glass
Ying Chen
Photography - 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
£3,317
Untitled #3. From the series There is an ocean in my glass
Ying Chen
Photography - 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
£3,317
Untitled #2. From the series There is an ocean in my glass
Ying Chen
Photography - 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
£3,317
Untitled #1. From the series There is an ocean in my glass
Ying Chen
Photography - 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
£3,317
Coupe de fruits à la guitare
Christian Jodin
Painting - 20 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
£351
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…