Still life

Still life, a distinct genre and professional specialization, developed as a separate category in the late sixteenth century. It gave the artists more freedom in the arrangement of elements within a composition than other types of genres such as landscape or portraiture. A style of ostentatious still life painting emerged in the Netherlands and prominent artists, like Willem Claesz Heda, emphasized the abundance by depicting a diversity of objects, fruits, flowers and dead game, often together with

evident that certain visual elements and principles of design resonate more with some artists than they do with others. Even though artwork tends to be original, often times it is easy to find similarities when comparing artwork. When comparing Still Life by Giorgio Morandi to Classic Landscape by Charles Sheeler, it is apparent that there are many similarities and differences in the visual elements and principles of design used by the artists when creating these works of art. One visual element

rise of the merchant class, dominating world trade, and excelling in scientific exploration. The art of this time reflected this, and was a representation of all they were fighting for. Still Life with a Gilt, specifically, is a warning to symbolize that the feast is over and to portray that what we possess in this life will not last. Holland was becoming an independent country and artists like Heda were capturing the country’s spirit in his art. During this time, the Netherlands was going through a

are noted for their skill in food - inspired art to discuss their artwork. These are “Still life with silverware and lobster” by Pieter Claesz and “Still Life: The Food Bowl” by Ken and Julia Yonetani. Despite the fact that these works were created four centuries apart, they share many factors and display the essence of still life art. The aim, for me, of this interview is to identify the changes in still life art, will there be any use of modern, emerging technologies in the more modern piece?

Still Life with Skull by Paul Cezanne was completed in 1898 during the Post-Impressionist era commonly known as the final period. The piece features a skull, fruits, and a piece of white cloth placed on a table. It takes the vanitas genre of art, done using oil on canvas measuring 65.4 cm by 54.3 cm which is exhibited at the Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania, USA (Lindsay 1969, 23). This work represents a powerful and essential link between the materialistic artistic movement of Expressionism

Still-life has been largely viewed as a genre of painting that contemplates life and time passing through an existential lens. Although this may be true, it seems that one may be myopically viewing still-life in a way that robs it of its nuances. This is even truer of still-life that contains a self-portrait of the artist – whether a traditional self-portrait or reflected on a mirror – as seen in many 17th century Dutch still-life. I argue that still-life with the artist’s portrait embedded into

A quick glance at the Still Life (1643) by Pieter Claesz (figure 1) reminds me of his Still Life with Oysters and Roemer (1642) (figure 2). The environment looks familiar, because they both depicted similar objects against the same wall, the same light source and perhaps the same table. A silver plate with three pieces of oysters, accompanied by a knife on the left, always occupies the middle foreground of the table; behind the plate of oysters is always a gleaming Roemer that is placed on the left

feast for the senses and a contemplation of fine food, temptingly presented amongst handsome dinnerware. Yet, by looking deeper into this beautifully rendered still life, it becomes apparent that a greater moral and religious message sits within this celebration of Dutch life and craftsmanship in the Seventeenth century. In A still life with a roemer, a crab and a peeled lemon, the titled objects are closely arranged, with some overlap, in a rectangular format to make

The final still lifes in the image archive are a group of drawings created by artist Jerry Winick. In all three of these images, vintage tea sets are shown. Other items shown include a clock, family photos (both framed and unframed), flowers, books, glasses, bowls, tongs, doilies, and a magnifying glass. These drawings are rendered hyper-realistically, with an exceptional level of detail. Winick appears to have chosen these objects to create a nostalgic representation of his family. This is shown

and his Jewish heritage. He was born in 1893 in Poughkeepsie, New York. His parents immigrated to the United States from Russia to escape anti-Semitism, which was hostility towards the Jews. As Abraham grew up, painting becomes a part of his daily life. After graduating from Poughkeepsie High School, he studied art at George Washington University, The Corcoran School of Art, and The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. In 1917, as the World War one raged, Abraham interrupted his