Still Life Studio

8/8/2019 Still Life Studio

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STILL LIFE: MEANINGS&

BRIEF HISTORY

What is a still life?

Who draws or paints still life

imagery?Why do artists create still lifes?


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still life or still-life

A picture of inanimateobjects. Common still life

subjects include vessels,

food, flowers, books,

clothing.

Vanitas Still Life, 1603Jacques de Gheyn the Elder

(Dutch, 15651629)


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Vanitas are still life

paintings which remindsus of life's fleeting

qualities of life. Each

object is a symbolrepresenting one of

these qualities.This genre (style) flourished

particularly among Dutch

painters of the seventeenthcentury.


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Willem van Aelst(Dutch, 1627-after

1682).

Vanitas Flower Still Life,

about 1656

Oil on canvas, 22 x 18

1/4 in.

What do you see

here?

What do you thinkeach object

represents?


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The 17th century Dutch were veryreligious people and Vanitas served adual purpose.

Vanitas were to remind the viewer that

life really is fleeting and that it shouldbe lived by the rules of God.Hourglasses and candles can also beseen in still lifes from this period.

Books and musical instruments refer tothe fleeting nature of music and earthlyknowledge. Often jugs of wine andfood were a reminder of moderationfor food and drink.

A bouquet of flowers with a butterflymay be pretty to look at however itmay have a deeper meaning

depending upon the time it wascreated.

There are other reasons why an artistwould and still create still life drawings

and paintings.


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Later, in 18th century

France, artists and

patrons where more

interested in displays of

wealth and created

extravagant still lifes.

The French also loved

art that entertained such

as trompe l'oeil painting.

A trompe l'oeil painting is

a type of still life is highly

realistic and looks very

three-dimensional.

Trompe loeil in French

means to "fool the eye".

William Michael Harnett.After the

Hunt. 1885. Oil on canvas


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Pablo Picasso. Still life with Skull, Sea Urchins and Lamp on Table. 1946.

Pablo Picasso

developed a

symbolic language to

express the humanexperience of war-

anxiety-horror.

war- spines of sea

urchins/ terrifying

weapons

objects sit in isolation

of one another- a

post war reality of

many.

Still Life with a Political Message? ...


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Pop ArtPredominate in the late 1950s and 60, the Pop Art Movement used image

sources from popular culture at a revolt or reaction to the accepted art of that

time, Abstract Expressionism.

During the Cold War era American way of life reigned as supreme-mass produced goods of standardized quality available to every member of

society.

-focused on everyday objects (illustrations, comics,

adadvertisementsObjects:

-glorified product of new consumer society & the new disposable

piece of trash

= a disposable society- a culture of waste.

prominence of brand names in Capitalist society inundated by

advertising-

consuptition- civic duty commentary ofPop Artists?

Pop art made a mockery of American consumerism/ advertising and mass

norms


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Marilyn (Vanitas) by Audrey Flack 96"x96",

1977, oil

Audrey Flack (born 1931):Audrey Flack studied at CooperUnion and Yale University. After a

stint as an Abstract expressionist,Flack began using photo realism asthe vehicle for conveying the socialand political themes. Throughout the1960s and 70s Flack's works drewupon events and personalities of thecivil rights and women's movements.

Marilyn Vanitas, (pictured above) is a poignant

tribute to Marilyn Monroe. Her favorite still-life

elements are all present, the burning candle,

photographs, lipstick, flowers, glassware, and

beads, but here they're married to a painted

sepia photograph of the fifties movie queen

reflected imperfectly in a mirror, symbolizing the

imperfection of our view of the quintessential

sex symbol of all time. All the symbolic elements

of vanitas painting are present too, where time is

of the essence, the pocket watch, the hourglass,

the temporal beauty of the rose, the ripe and

overripe fruit, the half-burned candle, and most

off all the makeup used, not just by Marilyn, but

all who would make an attempt to hide the

ravages of time reflected in our ever-present

mirrors.


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"Art is apowerful force

in the world.

It is the visualrepresentation

of what wethink andwhat we feel,and of how we

think and howwe feel.

~Audrey Flack

Still Life Studio

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