When you first start as an artist, or if you are walking through any art museum you see tons and tons of still lifes. Many people imagine it is the basis of all art forms, you know once you've practiced with enough boring things like apples and oranges then you can start to branch out to figures. But, still lifes weren't even apart of the Western Art World until the late 16th Century. Before then almost all paintings were religious or documentary. And so if any still lifes were made they still held religious symbolism.
The first types of still lifes that were created were of course within Egyptian tombs. They would have artists paint any sort of riches from food to items on the walls of the tomb thinking that in the afterlife they would be there for the deceased. Some of the other earliest recounts of still lifes were within Pompeii and were Roman mosaics used for decoration and signs of hospitality. None of the still lifes up until the Dutch and Flemish paintings in the late 16th Century were what you'd think are typical still lifes we see covering museums today. The Dutch and Flemish painters were in a craze for still lifes because of the combination of religious images being banned in the Dutch Reformed Protestant Church (which led to the symbolism within still lifes) and the simple obsession with horticulture that the Dutch had.
 |
| Egyptian wall painting of food (http://www.timetrips.co.uk/still_life_history.htm) |
 |
| uncovered still life found at Herculaneum showing Roman still life (https://sketchesandscratches.wordpress.com/tag/vanitas/) |
 |
| Willem Kalf, Still Life with Ewer, Vessels and Pomegranate, oil on canvas, mid-1640s, The J. Paul Getty Museum |
 |
| Jan van Huysum, 1723, oil on panel, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/huysum.html) |
Something funny and interesting that I found about still lifes is that there was a genre of still lifes known as "breakfast paintings" which would be the presentation of the upper class breakfasts while also a religious reminder not to be gluttonous.
 |
| Willem Claeszoon Heda, Breakfast Table with Blackberry Pie, 1631, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister |
As you can imagine, still lifes evolved along with the many art movements, being the cornerstone of all styles and genres of art. You can find a still life of any genre and style of art you desire and probably by any artist you desire as well. It is the basis of all artists today and a great way to study the aesthetic elements, but it shouldn't be thrown aside as a beginners form of art.
 |
| Ori Gersht, Blow Up, photographs and videos, 2007 |
Still lifes allow the artist to impose any sort of composition and arrangement of elements within the artwork. This sort of freedom allows for many styles and genres of art to take place, which led to how contemporary still lifes will include two-dimensional or three-dimensional mixed media and sometimes even video or sound.
Next time you think Still Lifes are "boring" or "too beginner", think again.
