Still life
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Textured pomegranate
Hasmik Mamikonyan
Painting - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
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Still life - tangerines
Shahen Aleksandryan
Painting - 24 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 9.4 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
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Still life - pomegranate and grapes
Shahen Aleksandryan
Painting - 49 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.3 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
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Still life - A tangerine
Shahen Aleksandryan
Painting - 30 x 24 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
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Still life - pomegranate and grapes
Shahen Aleksandryan
Painting - 30 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
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Still life - apricots (1)
Shahen Aleksandryan
Painting - 30 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
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Still life - mandarin
Shahen Aleksandryan
Painting - 24 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 9.4 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
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Bouquet noir au bord de table
Baptiste Laurent
Painting - 110 x 86 x 0.3 cm Painting - 43.3 x 33.9 x 0.1 inch
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Les lumières incomprises : Il fallait bien traverser pour aller cueillir les perce-neige.
François Pagé
Painting - 20 x 20 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 inch
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Il y avait ce clair de lune sans lune, il y avait ce cheval sans mors, il y avait ces montagnes bleues, tendues comme une écharpe entre deux mondes. Je t’avais peint cette nuit là en rouge nos arbres à secrets.
François Pagé
Painting - 20 x 20 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 inch
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Interpretation of an emotion
Galya Popova
Painting - 40 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
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Don't call me precious
Valérie Butters
Painting - 122 x 122 x 4 cm Painting - 48 x 48 x 1.6 inch
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Pommes jaunes appelées par la grâce
Sylvain Loisant
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
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Wellenelement Inverse Transformation 1
Hein Gravenhorst
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
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Easy breezy lemon squeezy - Blue
M.E. Ster-Molnar
Print - 41 x 32 x 1 cm Print - 16.1 x 12.6 x 0.4 inch
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Still life with plums and apricot
Tamar Nazaryan
Painting - 24 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 9.4 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
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Field flowers in vase
Anush Emiryan
Painting - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
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Kiss in the dark, surrealistic artwork
Artush Voskanyan
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
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Elle rougit - Digital Art digigraphie
Piment Martin
Print - 70 x 50 cm Print - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
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Les enfants de Gaïa 7
Michèle Magnien (Mileg)
Painting - 20 x 20 x 4 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 1.6 inch
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Still life with plums (1)
Sergey Miqayelyan
Painting - 24 x 30 x 2 cm Painting - 9.4 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
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Venise : traffic sur le grand canal
Yves Duffour
Painting - 73 x 92 x 3 cm Painting - 28.7 x 36.2 x 1.2 inch
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Toulouse, marché sur les boulevards
Yves Duffour
Painting - 73 x 92 x 3 cm Painting - 28.7 x 36.2 x 1.2 inch
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Modern still life
Anahit Mirijanyan
Painting - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
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Still life with lamp and umbrella
Anahit Mirijanyan
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
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Field flowers with red background
Hayk Miqayelyan
Painting - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
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Osaka, les oranges et les citrons
Meriame Louattani
Painting - 21 x 14.8 cm Painting - 8.3 x 5.8 inch
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Objeto de Deseo
Enrique Toledo Gonzalez
Painting - 117 x 127 x 1 cm Painting - 46.1 x 50 x 0.4 inch
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Pomegranates - Italian painting
Riccardo Chirici
Painting - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
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Nature morte au bouquet de fleurs dans un vase en cuivre
Therese Guerin
Painting - 95 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 37.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
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Jardí amb taula i cadires
Montse Roldos
Fine Art Drawings - 53 x 36 cm Fine Art Drawings - 20.9 x 14.2 inch
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N°1325 - Nature Morte
Faezeh Baharlou
Painting - 100 x 100 x 5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 2 inch
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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…