Is there
hidden content in traditional still life?
A still life is
a picture of
inanimate
objects — a bowl
of fruit, an
arrangement of
flowers, a stack
of books on a
desk — that have
been
deliberately
chosen and
arranged by the
artist.
Throughout
history,
however, artists
have created
still life that
are more than
just a picture
of objects. Many
still life
comment on
individual or
cultural values.
They might
remind us of
life's brevity
or symbolize
wealth and
power. An artist
may simply
choose
attractive or
interesting
objects to
depict, but they
might also
choose objects
that symbolize
aspects of our
existence.
Speaking
volumes
A still life has
always been an
important formal
exercise for an
artist. The goal
is for the
artist to
capture volume,
texture and
color
convincingly
enough to convey
an illusion of
reality. The
artist sets the
scene — the
objects
themselves,
their location,
the lighting
conditions, the
point of view —
to create a
challenging
composition and
demonstrate his
or her ability
to speak volumes
in the basic
language of
form, texture,
color, and
light.
Still lifes
with an agenda
Some of the
best-known still
lifes are 17th
century Dutch "vanitas"
paintings, which
were intended to
reminded viewers
of the
transitory
nature of life.
An apple in a
bowl of fruit,
when examined
closely,
contained a
worm. A flower
in a vase showed
signs of
wilting. A book
on a desk was
placed next to a
skull to remind
us of the
inevitability of
death, despite
all our learning
and cultural
achievement. A
still life was
not just a
picture of
objects; it had
a significant
message to
communicate to
us.
Still life
experiments
In the late 19th
and into the
20th centuries,
artists tended
to omit obvious
symbolic content
and to
concentrate on
the still life
as a way to
express new
artistic
theories.
In the late 19th
century, Paul
Cezanne used the
still life to
explore his
ideas of how to
render volume on
a
two-dimensional
surface. In the
early 20th
century, Pablo
Picasso and
Georges Braque
created a new
kind of still
life: the Cubist
collage, which
included actual
fragments of
everyday objects
such as
photographs,
newspaper
headlines, or
bar coasters. It
allowed them to
express radical
new ideas about
perspective,
depth, volume,
and the very
nature of art
itself.
Bringing art
down to earth
In the later
twentieth
century, Robert
Rauschenberg
advanced this
tradition of
collage by
inventing what
he called
"combines" —
combinations of
paintings and
real,
three-dimensional
objects. In
doing so, he
reintroduced
symbolism into
the tradition of
still life.
Instead of
returning to
themes of
ripeness and
decay, or life
and death, he
explored the
nature of
absurdity and
accident. By
mounting a
stuffed chicken
on top of wooden
crates or
putting a spare
tire around a
stuffed Angora
goat, he pushed
the boundaries
of art and
brought life and
art closer
together.
Next:
Figure — What do
artists find so
compelling about
the human body?
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