Still life is a genre that gained fame in Western art To end of the XVI centuries and has remained ever since important genre. Still life paintings are classified according to the depiction of ordinary objects, which can be natural, such as flowers, fruits, etc., or artificial, such as glasses, musical instruments etc. Below is a list of the 10 most famous still lifes famous artists including Chardin, Paul Cézanne, Van Gogh and Giorgio Morandi.
No. 10 Series of still lifes, Artist Tom Wesselman
The pop art movement arose in the 50s of the 20th century, and uses recognizable images from popular culture. Among the most popular works pop art is a series of still lifes by Tom Wesselmann. His still lifes depict the elements modern world, rather than the fruits and vegetables of the previous generation of artists in this genre. This work (Still Life #30) is a combination of painting, sculpture and a collage of trademarks that Tom saw on the street.
No. 9 Vanitas with violin and glass ball
Artist: Peter Claes
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Peter Claes is one of the leading still life painters of his time. His vanitas with a violin and a glass ball, which depicts many objects, including a skull, but what especially attracts attention is the glass ball, in which the artist himself is reflected in front of the easel. There is a sense of mysticism in this. Caravaggio's "Fruit Basket" is very natural; wormholes are even visible on the fruit. And it is not clear whether the master depicted what he saw, or whether there is more hidden in the spoiled fruits deep meaning. Undoubtedly Van Gogh's still life with sunflowers is nice. |
The presented rating of still lifes perfectly shows how diverse paintings of this genre can be. A very “Soviet” (or proletarian) work by Wesselmann, although it does not depict the attributes of the USSR, except for the red star. The portrait of Lincoln does not fit into the still life; it looks strange between whiskey, fruit, indoor flower, a cat and again fruit, which is involuntarily associated with images of general secretaries, who at one time were an indispensable attribute of any setting. Two bottles of whiskey seem like beer, giving the impression of an everyday, everyday drink that does not require a special snack. The White house in the picture is almost completely hidden by fruit, which hints that it is just minor detail interior Bright colors give the composition a clear 60s character and make it easier to perceive the red star next to Lincoln. Vanitas contrasts sharply with the violin, which is sharply distinguished by elegance, sophistication, more restrained colors and a set of objects from opposite world, regarding Wesselmann's painting. Caravaggio's fruit basket is an example of a classic still life, very stylish, laconic, which is always nice to see. An interesting palette, which does not differ in the variety of colors, but fits into a certain range of natural shades. And Morandi's work is so simple, essential and pure that it is impossible to get tired of looking at it. A minimum of color, a few objects that make up the composition, no patterns, a variety of objects, simple shapes, with the exception of the vase. Nevertheless, I want to look at the still life and find various nuances in its apparent simplicity. Cezanne's canvases are a celebration of life, abundance, simple joys - fresh fruit, Home wine, a homemade dessert intended to be eaten, and not to create a canonical composition. Still life with lemons is very stylish, with advantageous color combination black and yellow, and the plate, basket and coffee pair create a kind of “video sequence” and add dynamism. The slope in Chardin’s painting immediately attracts attention and effectively sets the canvas apart from any others, although in essence it is a fairly classic, traditional still life. Cubic, geometric work Braque demonstrates that the still life genre is possible in this style. Well, Van Gogh's sunflowers are a sunny, joyful, radiant, warm work, but I'm not sure that I would put it in first place. |
Most people consider still life paintings to be beautiful, but boring. Even the name of the genre is from French nature morte- “dead nature” seems to prove that there is little interesting here. However, even among the still lifes there are unusual and exciting paintings. True, their unusualness is not always visible at first glance: sometimes you need to take a closer look, and sometimes find out the history of the creation of the picture. Read about the most interesting still lifes with food in our article.
Giuseppe Arcimboldo "Portrait of Emperor Rudolf II as Vertumnus", 1590
Despite the name of the painting, art historians define its genre as “portrait still life.” And here it’s hard to disagree with them: after all, it’s impossible to call this an ordinary portrait. The painting belongs to the brush Italian artist 16th century Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who in the 20th century was hailed as the forerunner of surrealism. In his paintings Arcimboldo depicted human faces in the form of compositions of vegetables and fruits, crustaceans and fish, often even with a portrait resemblance. It is known that Emperor Rudolf II was delighted with his “edible” portrait and very generously rewarded the artist. Among Arcimboldo's portrait still lifes there are some quite unusual ones - “reversals”: it is enough to rotate the picture 180 degrees to see a completely new image. Thus, when rotated, the portrait “Gardener” becomes a still life “Vegetables in a bowl”, and the portrait “Cook” turns into a still life with piglets on a platter.
Frans Snyders "Still Life with Killed Game and Lobster", first half of the 17th century
It is in the works of the Dutch and Flemish artists XVII century, still life finally established itself as an independent genre of painting. Still lifes of Frans Snyders are made in the Baroque style - they are dynamic, abundant, colorful. A blue-black peacock hanging from the table, a luxurious red lobster on a blue dish, motley small game on the table, yellow and green artichokes and melons... Despite the “dead nature”, the picture is full of life and seems to be permeated with movement. And a dog and a cat quarreling under the table only harmoniously complete the already lively kitchen scene.
Paul Cézanne "Still Life with Apples and Oranges", circa 1900
French artist Paul Sérusier spoke about Cézanne’s fruit this way: “About an ordinary artist’s apple they will say: “You want to eat it.” About Cezanne's apple: “How wonderful it is.” You won’t dare to peel his apple, you’ll want to copy it.” Indeed, Cézanne had a “special relationship” with apples: he considered them perfect creations in both shape and color. It is known that Cezanne even said: “I will conquer Paris with my apples.” Using the simplest examples, he sought to show true beauty nature. One of the young artists visited Cezanne while he was working on one of his still lifes and was amazed: “Cezanne began arranging the fruits, choosing them so that they contrasted with each other, and watching for the appearance of complementary colors: green on red and yellow on blue . He endlessly moved and turned the fruit, placing one and two sou coins under them. Cezanne did all this slowly and carefully, and it was clear that this activity gave him true pleasure.”
Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin " Morning still life", 1918
At first glance, the painting “Morning Still Life” is simple and uncomplicated, but if you look closely, you will notice interesting details, for example, a ginger cat reflected in a teapot - perhaps he is lying on the owner’s lap. In addition to the cat, the dog also “gives away” the man in the picture - she looks directly at him in patient anticipation. Thus, in a still life, the presence of a person is visibly felt, although the artist did not draw him. There are few objects depicted in the picture, but most of them are endowed with shine: a nickel-plated teapot is polished to a shine, a glass jar with a bouquet of wildflowers glistens in the sun, and the shells of eggs glisten. There are reflections of light on the tabletop, saucer, glass of tea, and broken silver spoon. The painting “Morning Still Life” is complete bright light, it conveys a feeling of morning freshness and peace.
Salvador Dali "Living Still Life", 1956
Among the still lifes of the Spanish surrealist artist there are many quite “ordinary” ones - “Still Life” 1918, still lifes “Fish” 1922 and “Basket with Bread” 1925, “Still Life with Two Lemons” 1926, etc. However, the most famous of the still lifes Dali is “Living Still Life” (“Moving Still Life”), written during the period of his passion for physics (mainly nuclear and quantum). Dali himself called this period - from 1949 to 1962 - “nuclear mysticism.” At this time, Dali did away with “static” in his paintings and began to represent matter in the form of particles. Even in still life, objects have lost their absolute stillness and acquired a crazy movement that does not correspond to our ideas about reality.
The word "still life" comes from the French phrase "nature morte" and means mortified or dead nature. But it seems to me that the essence of this type of art better conveys English expression"still life" - "motionless, frozen life." After all, in its essence, a still life is nothing more than a captured piece of life.
While collecting material for this article, I encountered certain difficulties. At first glance, photographing a still life is as easy as shelling pears. I put the cup on the table, added some details to it, set the light and clicked the shutter. Models are always at hand, unlimited time for shooting. Convenient and minimal costs. That’s why novice photographers love this genre. And some achieve very interesting results. Go to any photography website, select the appropriate section and admire the truly gorgeous pictures. But time passes, and many people have questions: “Why film this? Who needs this? What will I get from this?” Not finding answers to these questions, many switch to wedding, children's or animal photography, which provide a certain income. Still life is not particularly respected by masters of photography. This is not a profitable business. If anything can bring, it’s only aesthetic satisfaction. And they shoot still lifes from time to time, so to speak, to hone their skills.
But there remain a few who see in a still life something more than just beautiful picture. It is to these masters of still life that I dedicate my article.
I admit, at first I wanted to make a selection of works by photographers that I like, and which rightfully occupy first places in the ratings on various photo sites. And then the question arose: “why?” Everyone knows how to use the Internet, most have studied photo sites at least once, with best works are familiar, and information about the photographer they are interested in can always be found using a search engine. I decided to talk about Special Photographers - those whose work turns the recognized canons upside down, who really brought something new to still life photography, who managed to see something extraordinary in ordinary things. You can treat their creativity differently: admire it or, conversely, not accept it. But, definitely, their work cannot leave anyone indifferent.
1. Cara Barer
Kara Barer (1956), a photographer from the United States, chose one subject for filming - a book. Transforming it, she creates amazing book sculptures, which she photographs. You can look at her photographs endlessly. After all, each such book sculpture carries certain meaning, and ambiguous.
2. Guido Mocafico
Swiss photographer Guido Mocafico (1962) is not limited to one subject in his work. He is interested in different objects.
But even taking a single subject, he gets amazing works. His series “Movement” is famous. It seems that the watch mechanisms are simply taken, but each one, if you look closely, has its own character.
In still lifes, as is known, “inanimate nature” is photographed. In his “Snakes” series, Guido Mocafico broke this rule and took a living creature as the subject of the still life. Snakes curled up in a ball create an amazing, bright and unique picture.
But the photographer also creates traditional still lifes, shooting them in the Dutch style, and using truly “inanimate objects” as props.
3. Carl Kleiner
Swedish photographer Karl Kleiner (1983) uses the most ordinary objects for his still lifes, arranging them into whimsical pictures. Karl Kleiner's photographs are colorful, graphic and experimental. His imagination is limitless, he uses absolutely different materials, from paper to eggs. Everything, as they say, goes into action.
4. Charles Grogg
Still lifes of the American Charles Grogg are made in black and white. The photographer also uses ordinary household items found in every home for filming. But by experimenting with their arrangement and combining them in unusual combinations, the photographer creates truly fantastic pictures.
5. Chema Madoz
I am sure that the works of Chema Madoz (1958), a photographer from Spain, are familiar to many. His black and white still lifes, made in a surreal style, leave no one indifferent. The photographer’s unique perspective on ordinary things is amazing. Madosa's works are full of not only humor, but also deep philosophical meaning.
The photographer himself says that his photographs were taken without any digital processing.
6. Martin Klimas
There is also no Photoshop in the works of Martin Klimas (1971), a photographer from Germany. Only a short, or rather super-short, shutter speed. His specially developed technique allows you to capture a unique moment that human view can't even see. Martin Klimas shoots his still lifes in complete darkness. Using a special device, the flash is turned on for a split second at the moment the object is broken. And the camera captures the Miracle. Here are just vases with flowers!
7. John Chervinsky
American John Czerwinski (1961) is a scientist working in the field of applied physics. And his still lifes are a kind of mixture of science and art. Here you won’t understand: either a still life or tutorial in physics. When creating his still lifes, John Czerwinski uses the laws of physics, obtaining incredibly interesting results.
8. Daniel Gordon
Daniel Gordon (1980), a photographer from America, is not concerned about scientific issues. When photographing still lifes, he chose a different path. He prints out color pictures downloaded from the Internet, crumples these pieces of paper, and then wraps various objects in them. It turns out something like paper sculptures. Bright, beautiful, original.
9. Andrew B. Myers
The still lifes of Andrew Myers (1987), a photographer from Canada, cannot be confused with any others - they are always recognizable. A simple, gentle, calm background, a lot of empty space, which creates a feeling of the image being filled with light and air. Most often he uses objects from the 70s and 80s to create still lifes. His works are graphic, stylish and evoke a certain nostalgia.
10. Regina DeLuise
To create her works, Regina DeLuise (1959), a photographer from the USA, does not use SLR photographic equipment. She chose a different method - she prints negatives from film on special rag paper. Her poetic images contain a wide range of tones and many textures. Still lifes are very tender and poetic. Amazing play of light and shadows.
11. Bohchang Koo
Bohchang Ku (1953), photographer from South Korea, prefers White color. The still lifes he created - white on white - are simply amazing. They are not only beautiful, but also carry a certain meaning - the preservation of ancient Korean culture. After all, the photographer specifically travels around the world, looking for objects in museums cultural heritage of your country.
12. Chen Wei
Chen Wei (1980), a photographer from China, on the other hand, finds inspiration for his work close to home. Featuring strange spaces, scenes and objects, he uses props that others have thrown into landfills.
13. Alejandra Laviada
Alejandra Laviada, a photographer from Mexico, uses destroyed and abandoned buildings for her photography, creating still lifes from objects found there. Her still lifes tell real stories about the people who lived in these buildings and used things left behind as unnecessary.
