Still life
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Oh my Love is like a Melody
Katharina Husslein
Painting - 120 x 160 x 3 cm Painting - 47.2 x 63 x 1.2 inch
€3,900
Fleurs ressuscitées
Julien Cuny
Painting - 188 x 95 x 2.5 cm Painting - 74 x 37.4 x 1 inch
€3,100 €2,790
Still life with melon
Serhii Cherniakovskyi
Painting - 50 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
€1,336 €1,069
Still life with tea cups and coffee mugs
Schagen Vita
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
€850
Lush Lilac Bouquet
Marieta Martirosyan
Painting - 80 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
€954
The Scent of Tulips
Lilith Tonakanyan
Painting - 60 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
€1,145
Image drawing on glass in blue
Jenny Owens
Sculpture - 27 x 27.5 x 2 cm Sculpture - 10.6 x 10.8 x 0.8 inch
€950
Violin 4
Arman
Fine Art Drawings - 25.4 x 20.3 x 1.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 10 x 8 x 0.5 inch
€1,432
Nappe rouge
Jacques Despierre
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 33 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 13 x 0 inch
€1,000
Still Life Flowers
Juan Jose Abella
Painting - 46 x 38 x 1 cm Painting - 18.1 x 15 x 0.4 inch
€1,100
Hotel Chelsea, New York. Room 822
Victoria Cohen
Photography - 67.6 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 26.6 x 40 x 0.1 inch
€3,054
Delicious still life 2.
Iryna Kastsova
Painting - 60 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
€1,740
Vanité aux papillons
Philippe Pasqua
Sculpture - 22 x 48 x 48 cm Sculpture - 8.7 x 18.9 x 18.9 inch
€14,000
Petite Ville Sainte
Emmanuelle Van Laere NEL-14512
Sculpture - 20 x 10 x 10 cm Sculpture - 7.9 x 3.9 x 3.9 inch
€3,200
Des fleurs pour Salinger
Jeff Alarie
Painting - 61 x 45.7 x 5.1 cm Painting - 24 x 18 x 2 inch
€1,155
Flowers in an antique vase
Natalie Shiporina
Painting - 5 x 5 x 2 cm Painting - 2 x 2 x 0.8 inch
€1,300
Marguerite en vase
Gaelle Beyaert
Fine Art Drawings - 31 x 22 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 12.2 x 8.7 x 0.8 inch
€290
I Don’t Mean A Thing
Laëtitia Giraud
Painting - 46 x 55 x 1 cm Painting - 18.1 x 21.7 x 0.4 inch
€1,350
Still Life with Ribbons
Gianni Cacciarini
Painting - 40 x 60 x 0.5 cm Painting - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
€1,500
Blue Silence
Christine Connelly
Painting - 100 x 100 x 4 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
€3,750
The Still Life Of The Sun
Delyafruz Bagirova
Painting - 100 x 55 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 21.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,700 €850
White and purple lilacs bouquet
Karine Harutyunyan
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
€573
Nostalgic Horse Toys
Abgar Khachatryan
Painting - 70 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
€716
Still life #16, Maroc
FLORE Photographer
Photography - 11 x 9 cm Photography - 4.3 x 3.5 inch
€2,300
Cup of coffee and tangerine
Irina Trushkova
Painting - 25 x 35 x 2 cm Painting - 9.8 x 13.8 x 0.8 inch
€1,400
Image drawing: Star constellation lightbox
Jenny Owens
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 29.7 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11.7 x 0.8 inch
€450
Dîner sur Saint Sylvestre
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 130 x 162 x 4 cm Painting - 51.2 x 63.8 x 1.6 inch
€3,200
Table with Fish, Black Background
Pablo Picasso
Fine Art Drawings - 55 x 70 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 21.7 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch
€140,000
The evening light.
Giulnara Khabibulina
Painting - 60 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
€4,500
II (Columnea)
Zornitsa Gramkova
Photography - 120 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 35.4 x 0 inch
€1,040 €936
Still Life with Bottle, Knife and Fish
Emil Filla
Fine Art Drawings - 49 x 37 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.3 x 14.6 x 0.4 inch
€695,800
Deux femme dansantes en intérieur
José Caballero
Fine Art Drawings - 33.5 x 47.5 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 13.2 x 18.7 x 0.1 inch
€2,859
Bisous, marguerites, supercheris
Marion Charlet
Painting - 162 x 130 x 4 cm Painting - 63.8 x 51.2 x 1.6 inch
€10,500
Sill life with cherries
Simona Tsvetkova
Painting - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
€949
Still life with Armenian instrument
Anahit Mirijanyan
Painting - 42 x 36 x 2 cm Painting - 16.5 x 14.2 x 0.8 inch
€334
Textured sunflowers (1)
Anush Emiryan
Painting - 30 x 20 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.8 inch
€115
Eternal Moments: Bird and Timepiece
Ara Gasparyan
Painting - 50 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
€458
Tea Time for My Pink Garden
Tanya Sviatlichnaya
Painting - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€550
Les poires sauvages
Gérard Willemenot
Painting - 16 x 16 x 1 cm Painting - 6.3 x 6.3 x 0.4 inch
€1,800
Series ‘Morning Flowers’
Ramaz Chantladze
Painting - 90 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
€2,000
Still life with peach
Kat Zhivetin
Painting - 57.5 x 40 x 0.1 cm Painting - 22.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€525
Passereaux trépassés 1 : Mésange charbonnière
Thierry Robert
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€380
Fauteuils de cinema
Serge Griggio
Painting - 100 x 82 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 32.3 x 1.2 inch
€2,800
Chiaruscoro of still life
Lisbeth Buonanno
Painting - 40 x 50 x 1.8 cm Painting - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.7 inch
€1,200
Bouquet et livres
Benjamin II Vautier
Painting - 46 x 38 x 2 cm Painting - 18.1 x 15 x 0.8 inch
€1,067
My garden had a party and i wasn't invited
Valérie Butters
Painting - 48 x 48 x 2 cm Painting - 18.9 x 18.9 x 0.8 inch
€4,600
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…