Still life paintings: the revolution from the 1800s through the present

In this article we will explore how, from the 19th century onward, still life paintings have undergone unexpected yet dynamic changes. A piece of bread, a flower, a ripe fruit, a dusty bottle or a fork slightly off-center on a marble table: simple objects, items that make up everyday life. Things that seem to come to life, revealing the paradox behind the the term, “still life”. Man, his relationship with things, and the way in which art has changed his way of looking at things. In this article, we will try to understand how, from the 19th century onward, still life paintings have undergone unexpected yet dynamic changes. The question is still very much a timely one, because still lifes depict objects, which have not changed dramatically in our daily lives. Today, we use glasses very similar to those used by the subjects in Chardin’s paintings. Nonetheless, still lifes have always been underrated and painters of this genre were considered of a lesser stature. There have always been objects in...