|
 |
|
Still Life Paintings Gallery |
Blueberries
|
Roses
|
A Present for Lindsey
|
|
Enter Gallery
|
Gallery Description
Still life paintings are depictions of inanimate objects. The commonly used subjects for still life paintings are everyday things like vessels, food, flowers, furniture, clothing etc.
Still life painting originated among the Dutch painters in the seventeenth century and was later brought to America. The early American still life painters were self-taught and they developed a style of their own, looking at things with an objective eye. The brilliant use of shades, reflections and textures created a three-dimensional effect fooling the eye of the viewer. Over the centuries, still life paintings continued to be transformed by the other styles that overlapped with them. The still life paintings evolved from depictions of traditional vessels and bowls to modern soup and beer cans. It went from accurate depictions of the objects to abstract styles. But the basic theme of incorporating common, everyday things in the paintings have been the mark of still life paintings.
On the surface, still life paintings may seem like extremely straightforward representations of the objects. But these paintings are subtle expressions of the artist’s emotions and moods. The objects chosen, the settings and background, the colors and shades all have complex iconographic significance when taken in the context of the painting.
Vanitas is a type of still life painting that has in it, elements that symbolize the brevity of human life and the futility of earthly pleasures. For example, still-life paintings having images of human skulls, broken pottery etc reminds us of life’s fleeting qualities.
Our gallery on Still-life limited editions brings to you some the most interesting paintings from around the world.
|
|
Saturday, July, 5 th
2008
|
