Still life
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Douceur d’hortensias
Martine Grégoire
Painting - 73 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 28.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$729
Still Life with a Yellow Tulip and a Yellow Opalina Vase, Antwerp
Michael James O'Brien
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$5,000
Cafetière orange et or
Christian Jodin
Painting - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$443 $311
Cafetières bleues et or
Christian Jodin
Painting - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$443 $311
Bouquet dans son vase
Alexis Louis Roche
Painting - 46 x 37.5 x 0.3 cm Painting - 18.1 x 14.8 x 0.1 inch
$667
Taylor Swift's Guitar
Christian Jodin
Painting - 20 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$219 $154
Un giorno qualunque
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 32 x 28 x 0.5 cm Painting - 12.6 x 11 x 0.2 inch
$365
Catalunya 1
Fernando Alday
Fine Art Drawings - 29.5 x 39.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.6 x 15.6 inch
$280
The power of love 1
Line Taarnberg
Photography - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$645
“Donald” Green
Ruslan Kolomiyets
Painting - 50 x 70 x 0.2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,458
Bouteille et verre
Pierre Boillon
Photography - 60 x 42 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 16.5 x 1.2 inch
$606
Un radis
Meteo Meteo
Fine Art Drawings - 29.7 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0 inch
$73 $52
Dimanche matin - série les poupées
Pierre Jarraud
Painting - 80 x 65 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 25.6 x 0.8 inch
$4,207
Farewell to winter. Hello spring!
Elena Shichko
Painting - 40 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$785
Nature morte 1
Nadine de Lespinats
Painting - 60 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$1,189
Natura morta olandese
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 29.5 x 21 x 0.3 cm Painting - 11.6 x 8.3 x 0.1 inch
$174
Iris
Mathilde de Bellecombe
Fine Art Drawings - 15 x 15 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 5.9 x 5.9 x 0.4 inch
$202
Jour de grisaille
Mathilde de Bellecombe
Painting - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$381
A travers champs
Mathilde de Bellecombe
Painting - 25 x 25 x 3 cm Painting - 9.8 x 9.8 x 1.2 inch
$219
Natura morta con vespa
Alexander Daniloff
Painting - 21 x 30 x 0.1 cm Painting - 8.3 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$191 $172
Magical Squares - Tribute to Gustav Klimt
Christian Jodin
Painting - 20 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$335 $236
Le Repaire de Bacchus
Christian Jodin
Painting - 46 x 38 x 2 cm Painting - 18.1 x 15 x 0.8 inch
$448 $314
L'Aperitif Espagnol
Christian Jodin
Painting - 20 x 20 x 1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$335 $236
Coupe de fruits
Percival Pernet
Painting - 32 x 33.5 x 0.3 cm Painting - 12.6 x 13.2 x 0.1 inch
$598
La fleur offerte
Claudine Kissinger
Painting - 127 x 150 x 5 cm Painting - 50 x 59.1 x 2 inch
$7,853
Une poire et demie
Daniel Nadaud
Fine Art Drawings - 55 x 37 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 21.7 x 14.6 x 0 inch
$673
Nature morte au couteau
Magali Palatan
Painting - 50 x 62 x 2.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 24.4 x 1 inch
$1,076
Still Life, Shapes Colors
Arshak Nersisyan
Painting - 100 x 90 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$8,414
Salmon for Lunch
Anyck Alvarez Kerloch
Painting - 38.1 x 45.7 x 2.5 cm Painting - 15 x 18 x 1 inch
$580
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
$550 $275
Blue Thistle and Yellow Tulip
Anyck Alvarez Kerloch
Painting - 99.1 x 78.7 x 2.5 cm Painting - 39 x 31 x 1 inch
$1,030
The betta gang
Michael Filonow
Photography - 76.2 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$565
Est-ce serait ce pour toi ?
Gauthier Bruel
Painting - 160 x 120 x 5 cm Painting - 63 x 47.2 x 2 inch
$3,590
Le Bouquet Rouge - série fleurs
Jean-Claude Mège
Painting - 130 x 97 x 2 cm Painting - 51.2 x 38.2 x 0.8 inch
$5,049
Bouquet printanier et canaris
Jean Jacques Boimond
Painting - 59 x 66 x 1 cm Painting - 23.2 x 26 x 0.4 inch
$690
Intérieur à la commode - série architecture d'intérieur
Jean-Claude Mège
Painting - 100 x 81 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 31.9 x 0.8 inch
$3,366
Deux roses en vase
Louis Henri Salzmann
Painting - 46 x 33 x 0.3 cm Painting - 18.1 x 13 x 0.1 inch
$655
Bouquet de tournesols
Percival Pernet
Painting - 77 x 58 x 0.5 cm Painting - 30.3 x 22.8 x 0.2 inch
$621
Mystère en noir et rouge
Jean-Robert Franco
Photography - 80 x 60 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 inch
$1,346
Nature morte aux fleurs et poteries
Gabriel Edouard Haberjahn
Painting - 59.5 x 49.5 x 0.5 cm Painting - 23.4 x 19.5 x 0.2 inch
$977
Retour de chasse au vase bleu
Charles Monnier
Painting - 73 x 41 x 2 cm Painting - 28.7 x 16.1 x 0.8 inch
$862
Granny Shura
Alexander Sviyazov
Sculpture - 55.5 x 31 x 19.5 cm Sculpture - 21.9 x 12.2 x 7.7 inch
$12,341
Pivoines et pavots
Daniel Couthures
Painting - 73 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 28.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$2,244
Danseuse de porcelaine
Serge Kalinowski
Painting - 116 x 89 x 5 cm Painting - 45.7 x 35 x 2 inch
$2,805
Cream rose on dark brown background
Elena Podmarkova
Painting - 30.5 x 30.5 x 2 cm Painting - 12 x 12 x 0.8 inch
$760
Bouquet de lilas blanc et pivoines roses
Gabriel Edouard Haberjahn
Painting - 36 x 49 x 0.2 cm Painting - 14.2 x 19.3 x 0.1 inch
$908
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…