Still life
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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
€4,000
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
€3,100
Jasmine Morning
Alexandr Kryushyn
Painting - 70 x 60 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
€3,200
Lilac and Spring Sun
Alexandr Kryushyn
Painting - 70 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
€3,200
Bouquet of irises
Alexandr Kryushyn
Painting - 70 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
€3,200
Nature morte avec thé
Henry Meylan
Painting - 54.5 x 74 x 2 cm Painting - 21.5 x 29.1 x 0.8 inch
€2,244
Still life with peppers
Igor Sventitski
Painting - 100 x 125 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 49.2 x 0.8 inch
€6,200
Oriental still life
Andrey Chebotaru
Painting - 119.4 x 109.2 x 2.5 cm Painting - 47 x 43 x 1 inch
€5,807
Still life
Reynold Arnould
Fine Art Drawings - 11.5 x 16 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 4.5 x 6.3 x 0.1 inch
€300
Metallic thinner
Yannick Bouillault
Sculpture - 10 x 21 x 21 cm Sculpture - 3.9 x 8.3 x 8.3 inch
€320
Fleur de Caractère
Hildegarde Handsaeme
Painting - 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,200
Meat Grinder
Grigol Chirinashvili
Painting - 67 x 44 x 0.2 cm Painting - 26.4 x 17.3 x 0.1 inch
€5,900
Colorant alimentaire
Yannick Bouillault
Sculpture - 39 x 26 x 23 cm Sculpture - 15.4 x 10.2 x 9.1 inch
€470
Femme Karo et son enfant. Ethiopie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 90 x 70 x 2 cm Photography - 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
€1,300
The Chess Game Of Summer
Delyafruz Bagirova
Print - 90 x 88 x 0.1 cm Print - 35.4 x 34.6 x 0 inch
€420
The Hall of Lost Steps ll
Izabela Apananska
Painting - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
€2,500
Glass elegy no. 13
Joseph Adolphe
Painting - 101 x 76 x 4 cm Painting - 39.8 x 29.9 x 1.6 inch
€16,600
Everyday growth
Susanne Butcher
Painting - 100 x 180 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 70.9 x 0.4 inch
€4,200
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
€6,027
A Little Pomegranate Still Life
Delyafruz Bagirova
Painting - 20 x 30 x 0.5 cm Painting - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
€420
The Stone and the blue sea
Åsa Elisa Dahlbeck
Painting - 108 x 132 cm Painting - 42.5 x 52 inch
€3,600
Floating light over the bay
Åsa Elisa Dahlbeck
Painting - 108 x 139 cm Painting - 42.5 x 54.7 inch
€3,600
Paravent Le Voyageur 1986 Screen The Traveller
Gilles Le Corre
Painting - 169 x 199 x 0.5 cm Painting - 66.5 x 78.3 x 0.2 inch
€12,500
Roses
Bonaventura Aumatell Tarradellas
Painting - 27 x 41 x 2 cm Painting - 10.6 x 16.1 x 0.8 inch
€2,500
Flaming 13
Juan Pablo Castro
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
€2,904
The Broken Chain
Juan Pablo Castro
Photography - 61 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 36 x 0.1 inch
€2,904
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
€3,388
Heure absente
Maryse-Anne Couteau
Fine Art Drawings - 29 x 29 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.4 x 11.4 x 0.4 inch
€4,000
L'enfant à la coque
Maryse-Anne Couteau
Fine Art Drawings - 20 x 20 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
€2,500
Les Fleurs Du Yacht-Club De Nikolayevski
Alina Khrapchynska
Painting - 80 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
€2,220
La Dame En Fer
Alina Khrapchynska
Painting - 80 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
€2,970
Lágrima de Nube
James Bonachea
Fine Art Drawings - 99.8 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 39.3 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
€2,904
Still life evening
Nadya Stancheva
Painting - 75 x 65 x 2 cm Painting - 29.5 x 25.6 x 0.8 inch
€3,100
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
€3,871
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
€3,871
Nature morte aux vases
Claude Vénard
Painting - 38 x 48 x 2.5 cm Painting - 15 x 18.9 x 1 inch
€15,000
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
€3,871
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
€3,871
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
€3,871
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
€3,871
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
€3,871
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
€3,871
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
€3,871
Nature morte au vase de roses et jeu de cartes
Henri Fehr
Painting - 65 x 54 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 21.3 x 0.8 inch
€2,007
Mystère en noir et rouge
Jean-Robert Franco
Photography - 80 x 60 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 inch
€1,200
Bouquet aux fleurs jaunes
Marius Chambaz
Painting - 65 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
€2,050
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…