An introduction to drawing and painting "Still Life" subjects
This lens provides information and advice from various websites for artists wanting to understand and draw and paint still life subjects.
Topics covered include:
- definitions and categories of 'still life';
- links to museums, art galleries and exhibitions of still life paintings;
- books about the history of still life art;
- books about how to paint still life;
- links to tips and techniques for drawing and painting still life subjects and
- still life artists.
New links are being added added on a regular basis. Create a bookmark or link to be able to check back to this site - see the "save and share" section in the right hand column.
Visit my gallery of Still Life Art on my website.
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- What is a "Still Life"
- BOOKS: Still Life
- Still Life Artists
- Contemporary Still Life Artists
- Still Life paintings in Museums and Art Galleries
- Still Life - Online Galleries
- Quotations about 'Still Life'
- Wikimedia Commons - still life paintings
- Still Life - Exhibitions
- My Duane Keiser Painting
- Still Life and 'A Painting A Day'
- BOOKS: Still Life - Books providing instruction and technical help
- Still Life - Tips and Techniques
- Still Life Photography
- Making A Mark
- Still Life - Drawings by Katherine Tyrrell
- Comments and Suggestions
What is a "Still Life"
one question, some definitions and a few answers
- Making a Mark: What is a still life?
- I have been participating in a debate which is trying to find an answer to "What is a Still Life?" which I gather is a question which perplexes some artists. I've been exercising my research skills to find websites that help to answer this apparently simple question - and have found some very complex answers. It would be remiss not to post links to the information here as well - hence this post! Bear in mind though that this is a very long post - and I've barely scraped the surface......
- National Gallery, London: Glossary - Still Life
- Inanimate objects such as fruit, flowers, food and everyday items are painted as the main focus of interest in still lifes. The term derives from the Dutch 'stilleven', which became current from about 1650 as a collective name for this type of subject matter.
- Tate | Glossary | Still life
- One of the principal genres (subject types) of Western art. Essentially, the subject matter of a still life painting or sculpture is anything that does not move or is dead. So still life includes all kinds of man-made or natural objects, cut flowers, fruit, vegetables, fish, game, wine and so on.
- NGA: Themes in American Art: Still Life
- A National Gallery of Art resource on themes in American Art.
The depiction of inanimate objects is called "still life." Common subjects include flowers and fruit, tableware, books and newspapers, and musical instruments. The function of a still life may be straightforward representation, or the artist may intend to convey a more subtle, moral message. Traditionally, still lifes and still-life elements of larger compositions have complex iconographical significance. - Making, Meaning and Market: 17th Century Dutch Painting from the Hunterian Art Gallery
- Origins and definitions of 17th century Dutch Still Life Paintings
- still life: Definition and Much More from Answers.com
- still life n. , pl. still lifes . Representation of inanimate objects, such as flowers or fruit, in painting or photography
- Vanitas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- In the arts, vanitas is a type of symbolic still life painting commonly executed by Northern European painters in Flanders and the Netherlands in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The term vanitas itself refers to the arts, learning and time. The word is Latin, meaning "emptiness" and loosely translated corresponds to the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of vanity.
- Memento mori - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Memento mori is a Latin phrase that may be freely translated as "Remember that you are mortal," "Remember you will die," or "Remember your death". It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose, which is to remind people of their own mortality.
- Still life - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Popular in Western art since the 17th century, still life paintings give the artist more leeway in the arrangement of design elements within a composition than do paintings of other types of subjects such as landscape or portraiture.
- still life. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05
- still life. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05
A pictorial representation of inanimate objects. The term derives from the 17th-century Dutch still-leven, meaning a motionless natural object or objects. - Realism. Art Words and Terms at Biddington's.
- Still Life considered within the context of an explanation & illustration of the contemporary representational art style called realism. Biddington's Pedigree & Provenance provides definitions of art words and terms.
- Still-Life Painting in Northern Europe, 1600–1800 | Thematic Essay | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Liedtke, Walter. "Still-Life Painting in Northern Europe, 1600?1800 ". In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000?. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nstl/hd_nstl.htm (October 2003)
BOOKS: Still Life
books from Amazon
Still Life: A History
From the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, people have decorated their homes with the charming pictures of fruit, flowers, and common objects known as still lifes. Full of new information and beautiful illustrations of works by da Vinci, Brueghel, Caravaggio, Manet, Picasso, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Lichtenstein, Hockney, and scores of other famous and little-known artists, this fascinating history of the Western still life from antiquity to the present day is a pleasure to read and a joy to behold.Drawn from much new research, the text discusses not only the still lifes themselves but also their historical and social context in all periods and countries of origin. All types of images are featured: flower and fruit paintings, kitchen and market scenes, pictures of scientific marvels, trompe l'oeil works, and Pop and abstract still lifes.Sparkling with color and immediacy, Still Life offers a new understanding of this splendid artistic heritage.
Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
List Price: $125.00
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Impressionist Still Life
The popularity of still-life painting continues to soar -- as evidenced by the success of Abrams' recent book on Manet's still lifes, as well as by several major museum exhibitions. With lush colorplates reproducing more than 65 masterworks by 17 Impressionist artists, this exceptional collection of still lifes is a brilliant display of the genre in all its glory.
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Cezanne in the Studio: Still Life in Watercolors
Still life--like the medium of watercolor--was traditionally considered to be "low" in the hierarchy of French academic painting. Cezanne chose to ignore this hierarchy, creating monumental still-life watercolors that contained echoes of grand landscapes and even historical paintings in the manner of Poussin--the "h ghest" of classical art forms. In so doing, he charged his still lifes with new meanings, both in terms of his own notoriously difficult personality and in the way he used the genre to explore the very process of looking at, and creating, art.
Carol Armstrong's study--published to coincide with an exhibition at the Getty Museum from October 12, 2004, to January 2, 2005--is a fascinating exploration of the brilliant watercolor paintings that brought Cezanne's career to a complex and triumphant conclusion. The book includes new photographic studies of the Getty's painting that allow the reader to encounter this great watercolor as never before--in its full richness and detail.
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At Home with the Impressionists: Masterpieces of French Still-Life Painting
Here are some of the most memorable masterpieces in the still-life painting genre from artists such as Caillebotte, Cézanne, Degas, Fantin-Latour, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, and van Gogh.
Release Date: 10/12/2001
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Looking at the Overlooked: Four Essays on Still Life Painting (Reaktion Books - Essays in Art and Culture)
In this, the only up-to-date critical work on still life painting in any language, Norman Bryson analyses the origins, history and logic of 'still life', one of the most enduring forms of Western painting. The first essay is devoted to Roman wall-painting while in the second the author surveys a major segment in the history of still life, from seventeenth-century Spanish painting to Cubism. The third essay tackles the controversial field of seventeenth-century Dutch still life. Bryson concludes in the final essay that the persisting tendency to downgrade the genre of still life is profoundly rooted in the historical oppression of women.In Looking at the Overlooked, Norman Bryson is at his most brilliant to date. These superbly written essays will stimulate us to look at the entire tradition of still life with new and critical eyes.
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Manet: The Still Life Paintings
Manet's still life paintings are among the finest ever created and account for about a fifth of all his work. This book traces the influences of Manet's still life work and discusses the allusions in some of his paintings. Manet's work is also discussed in the context of the history and philiosphy of still life painting.
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The Last Flowers of Manet
A book which is very much valued by all those who admire Manet's work despite its bargain price. The downside - it's difficult to find and you may have a wait....
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Discoveries: Chardin: An Intimate Art (Discoveries (Abrams))
Charming yet scholarly, this book explores the work of the French artist Jean Baptiste Simon Chardin, who brought a breath of fresh air to 18th-century painting. His masterful sense of color and light filled his simple domestic interiors and delicate renderings of still lifes with a profound humanism.
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Still Life Artists
- Still Life Painters: Artcyclopedia
- Still Life Painters: List of artists specializing in Still Life and index to where their art can be viewed at art museums worldwide.
- Category:Italian still life painters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Italian still life painters From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Unlike the Netherlands, the painting of still life and genre painting did not attract as many practitioners among Italian painters. This is a partial list of still life painters active or born in Italy, concentrating on painters from before the 20th century. - Raphaelle Peale - The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Works of Art: American Paintings and Sculpture
- Peale's tightly grouped still lifes are often permeated with a delicate melancholy akin to that which characterized the life of the artist
- Snyders, Frans. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05
- Snyders, Frans. celebrated Flemish still-life and animal painter
- Van Gogh Museum - Still Lifes by Van Gogh
- Images of Van Gogh Still Life paintings in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
- National Gallery of Art - Pieter Claesz: Master of Haarlem Still Life
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Pieter Claesz
- William Harnett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- William Michael Harnett (August 10, 1848 ? October 29, 1892) was an Irish-American painter who practiced a trompe l'oeil (literally, "fool the eye") style of realistic painting.
- The Getty - Giovanna Garzoni (1600 - 1670)
- A biography of the artist Giovanna Garzoni from the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection.
- Jacob van Hulsdonck
- A biography of the artist Jacob van Hulsdonck from the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection.
- Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (November 2, 1699 ? December 6, 1779) was an 18th-century French painter who specialised in still life and portraiture
Contemporary Still Life Artists
- Still life: www.Contemporary-Still-Life.com --- An overview of contemporary still life painters
- Still life painting is coming back in the picture. With this site we aim at providing a complete overview of contemporary still life painters, mainly on the internet. For each painter, you will find a short biography or statement, and some photo material.
- Artist Profile of Janet Fish, Her Life and Work
- The life and work of contemporary painter and printmaker Janet Fish.
- Janet Fish @ Stewart & Stewart
- Janet Fish was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1938 and raised in Bermuda. Fish received a Bachelor of Arts degree at Smith College and a Master of Fine Arts degree at Yale University.
A realist, Fish is well known for her richly executed oil paintings and pastels of glass objects, fruit and flowers. - Still Life Paintings, Landscape and Portraits by British Painter Julian Merrow-Smith
- Still life paintings from internationally exhibited British artist Julian Merrow-Smith. Vibrant contemporary still life and landscape paintings from the artists studio in Crillon-le-Brave, Provence.
- Emily Patrick
- A collection of over 200 paintings by Emily Patrick sortable by genre and year
Genre includes still life - Colin Page Paintings » Still Lives
- Colin Page Fine Art Paintings - Still Life Gallery
When viewing an image, use your N or P keys for Next or Previous image, or you may also hover your mouse over the right or left edge of each image
Still Life paintings in Museums and Art Galleries
Collection of still life paintings and links to paintings in museums by still life artists
- National Gallery, London - Still Life
- Still Life paintings in the National Gallery, London
- Jan Jansz. de Heem: Still Life: A Banqueting Scene | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- "Jan Jansz. de Heem: Still Life: A Banqueting Scene (12.195)". In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nstl/hod_12.195.htm (October 2006)
- The Getty - Still Lifes
- J Paul Getty Museum - 20 Still Life Paintings
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art - American Still Life
- 26 American Still Life paintings
- Pieter Claesz.: Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- "Pieter Claesz.: Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill (49.107)". In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nstl/hod_49.107.htm (October 2006)
- Artcylopedia: Paintings by William Michael Harnett Online
- William Michael Harnett [Irish-born American Painter, 1848-1892] Guide to pictures of works by William Michael Harnett in art museum sites and image archives worldwide.
- Artcyclopedia - Balthasar van der Ast Online
- Balthasar van der Ast [Dutch Baroque Era Painter, ca.1593-1656] Guide to pictures of works by Balthasar van der Ast in art museum sites and image archives worldwide.
- Artclyclopedia - Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder Online
- Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder [Dutch Baroque Era Painter, 1573-1621] Guide to pictures of works by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder in art museum sites and image archives worldwide.
- Artcyclopedia - Frans Snyders Online
- Frans Snyders [Flemish Baroque Era Painter, 1579-1657] Guide to pictures of works by Frans Snyders in art museum sites and image archives worldwide.
- Paul Cézanne: Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses | Work of Art | Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Still-life painting in northern Europe ? scene-setting and symbolism | Musée du Louvre
- Opening days:Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Duration:1 hr. 30 mins.
Suitable for schoolchildren and teachers Suitable for groups
Still-life painting in northern Europe depicts familiar, everyday objects, and provides a unique point of contact between painting and daily life. But behind the mirage of abundance, the pleasing array of produce and objects, the paintings invite the viewer to discover a subtler message, exploring questions of appearance and reality, and the nature of symbolism.
Still Life - Online Galleries
- ArtLex on Still Lifes by Artists Born Before 1700
- Still lifes by artists born before 1700, with great quotations, and links to other resources.
- ArtLex on Still Lifes by Artists Born Between 1701 and 1850
- Still lifes by artists born 1701-1850, with great quotations, and links to other resources.
- ArtLex on Still Lifes by Artists Born Between 1851 and 1900
- Still lifes by artists born 1851-1900, with great quotations, and links to other resources.
Quotations about 'Still Life'
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) Russian painter.
Wikimedia Commons - still life paintings
Wikimedia - the free media repositary
- Category:Still life paintings of bread - Wikimedia Commons
- Category:Still life paintings of bread From Wikimedia Commons
- Category:Still life paintings of flowers - Wikimedia Commons
- Still life paintings of flowers From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
- Category:Still life paintings of fruits - Wikimedia Commons
- Category:Still life paintings of fruits From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
- Category:Still life paintings of food - Wikimedia Commons
- Category:Still life paintings of food From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
- Category:Baroque still life paintings - Wikimedia Commons
- Category:Baroque still life paintings From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Still Life - Exhibitions
- Claude Raguet Hirst: Transforming the American Still Life
- Approximately thirty of the artist's paintings were featured in Claude Raguet Hirst: Transforming the American Still Life, the first exhibition devoted to her considerable achievements at at the Columbus Museum of Art from January 15 through April 10, 2005,
My Duane Keiser Painting
Still Life and 'A Painting A Day'
prominent daily painters of still life
Since then many new people have started to collect small orginal paintings at more affordable prices.
- A Painting a Day
- A Painting a Day
Recent Work by Duane Keiser
8/01/2008
Broken Bird Egg oil/lien, 3"x2.5," 2008
status: sold Collection of Katherine Tyrrell - Postcard from Provence | Daily Paintings | Still life
- Postcard from Provence:
a daily painting blog - a painting a day from the artist's studio in Provence
This is the Still Life Archive - Carol Marine's Painting a Day
- Carol Marine's Painting a Day
SMALL STILL LIFE PAINTINGS IN OIL
BOOKS: Still Life - Books providing instruction and technical help
books from Amazon
How Did You Paint That?: 100 Ways to Paint Still Lifes & Florals (How Did You Paint That?)
From the best artists working in the world today comes an instructive and inspirational new series-How Did You Paint That? Covering a spectrum of popular topics, this series provides beginning and advanced artist of all mediums with detailed examples of the myriad ways in which to portray the featured subject. Each title includes 100 different interpretations of the topic, and each interpretation is accompanied by valuable firsthand feedback from the artist, including the colors and brushes used, along with the artist's methodology, challenges, and motivation. Readers will also find suggestions and exercises from the painters, allowing them to apply the lessons of masters to their own masterpieces.
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Still Lifes: Techniques and Style : An Examination of Paintings from the Rijksmuseum
Catalogue published in conjunction with an exhibition held from 19 Jun. to 19 Sept. 1999 at the Rijskmuseum, Amsterdam.
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Classic Still Life Painting: A Contemporary Master Shows How to Achieve Old Master Effects Using Today's Art Materials
Classic Still Life Painting shows artists how to create paintings of sparkling brilliance and jewel-like colour that look like they have been lit from within - just like the exquisite paintings of the Renaissance masters of the 16th and 17th centuries. Artists learn techniques similar to those used by Rembrandt, Raphael, Rubens, and other master painters of the past, including using glazing with colours over a subtle under painting of tones to achieve the effect of sunlight passing through stained glass. Through the advent of fast drying mediums, artists learn that they will be able to achieve the same richness and luminosity found in the works of the old masters.
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Flowers and Fruit: National Gallery Pocket Guide (National Gallery London Publications)
From symbolic blossoms in religious paintings of the Middle Ages to Caravaggio's pomegranates in the Renaissance to Cezanne's apples and melons in the nineteenth century, flowers and fruit appear in countless paintings. This Pocket Guide explores the presence of fruit and flowers in works of art from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries and what they meant to the artists and the public who saw them. Art lovers and horticulturist alike will treasure this enlightening book.
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Still Life - Tips and Techniques
- Making a Mark: Flowers in Art: Tips and Techniques for working from life
- This post is a summary of a number of tips and techniques for working from life when drawing or painting flowers.
- Flowers:Tips on Flower Selection, Care and Arranging - by Chuck Law
- Flowers:Tips on Flower Selection, Care and Arranging Artwork from Life
- Making a Mark: How to create a lightbox for macro photographs of still life
- A really good explanation for how to create the ideal lighting set-up for photographing small objects - for next to nothing.
- Symbol Dictionary - Flowers and Plants
- Symbols dictionary - flowers and plants. Add hidden meaning to your paintings by using specific flowers to symbolize love, jealous, and more.
- Making a Mark: Night and Day - lighting your subject
- I'm minded to try a series of simple still lifes with the same subject matter drawn during the day and then again at night. My first thoughts were about lighting. I used to think that I don't have the ideal set-up in terms of lighting but I'm now beginning to wonder what the ideal set-up is.
- Making a Mark: The 9th Annual Pastel 100
- You can see the Best in Show image at the top of this post - courtesy of Ron Monsma. This is a very complex still life of a large number of objects with different surface textures and shapes - all of which are rendered in a very convincing manner. I think the colour balance within the work is remarkable. In fact, if there is anything I could fault it for it was that it made me sit and look very hard at it and to try and work out why the composition worked!
The detailed interview in The Pastel Journal provides a very interesting insight into his current working method and approach to working out placement of objects and composition. I completely empathise with the fact that he draws with an eraser!
Still Life Photography
- Still Life With... (Food Styling and Photography)
- Behind the scenes of a Cottage Living Food Shoot
January 6th, 2008
Just stumbled on this little video of a California based food shoot… you know the ones, where the table is beautifully setup right next to the vineyard. While the story isn’t high on details, it’s still kin
Making A Mark
Writing about: - Making marks with pastels, pencils and pen and ink - Creating new drawings and paintings - Influences on developing both artwork and art careers - Interviews with artists - Information about resources for artists and art lovers ....
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byStill Life - Drawings by Katherine Tyrrell
- Pastels and Pencils - Still Life - Drawings by Katherine Tyrrell
- Still Life - original fine art drawings in coloured pencils by Katherine Tyrrell
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