School encyclopedia. Still lifes of great masters Still life as an independent genre

What a strange painting this is - still life: it makes you admire a copy of those things whose originals you cannot admire.

Blaise Pascal

And really, have you ever looked at the fruit from the kitchen table? Well... except when you were hungry, right? But you can admire a picture with a fruit arrangement or a luxurious bouquet of flowers for hours. This is precisely the special magic of still life.

Translated from French, still life means "dead nature"(nature morte). However, this is only a literal translation.

In fact still life- this is an image of motionless, frozen objects (flowers, vegetables, fruits, furniture, carpets, etc.). The first still lifes are found on the frescoes of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

Still life (fresco from Pompeii) 63-79, Naples, National Gallery of Capodimonte. Author unknown.

When a friend came to visit a Roman, good manners required that the owner of the house show the best of his silverware. This tradition is clearly reflected in the still life from the tomb of Vestorius Priscus in Pompeii.

In the center of the composition is a vessel for mixing wine and water, the embodiment of the god of fertility Dionysus-Liber. On both sides of the golden table there are jugs, scoops, and wine horns symmetrically placed.

However, a still life is not only fruits, vegetables and flowers, but also... a human skull, designed to reflect the transience of human life. This is exactly how still life was imagined by supporters of the “Vanitas” genre, representatives of the early stage of still life development.

An outstanding example is an allegorical still life by a Dutch artist Willem Claes Heda, where a pipe is depicted next to the skull - a symbol of the elusiveness of earthly pleasures, a glass vessel - a reflection of the fragility of life, keys - a symbol of the power of a housewife managing supplies. The knife symbolizes the vulnerability of life, and the brazier, in which the coals are barely glowing, means its extinction.

Vanity. Vanitas, 1628, Willem Claes Heda.

Willem Heda is rightly called "master of breakfast" With the help of an interesting arrangement of food, dishes and kitchen utensils, the artist surprisingly accurately conveyed the mood of the paintings. And his skill in depicting reflections of light on the perfectly smooth surfaces of silver bowls and glass goblets amazed even the artist’s eminent contemporaries.

It’s incredible how accurately and delicately Heda was able to convey every little detail: the play of light, the features of shape, the colors of objects. All the Dutchman’s paintings contain mystery, poetry, and sincere admiration for the world of objects.

Still lifes of famous artists

Famous artists were often fond of still life. It is about the masters of the brush and their amazing works that I will tell you next.

Pablo Picasso is the most expensive artist in the world

Unique and inimitable - this is what they call the outstanding Spanish artist of the twentieth century. Pablo Picasso. Each work of the author is a tandem of original design and genius.

Still life with a bouquet of flowers, 1908

Still life with bulbs, 1908

In addition to the traditionally perfect realistic, filled with light and bright colors, or gloomy still lifes made in bluish-gray tones, Picasso was fond of cubism. The artist arranged objects or characters in his paintings into small geometric shapes.

And although art critics did not recognize Picasso’s cubism, now his works are selling well and are owned by the richest collectors in the world.

Guitar and sheet music, 1918

Eccentric Vincent Van Gogh

Along with the famous Starry Night, the series of paintings with sunflowers became a unique symbol of Van Gogh's work. The artist planned to decorate his house in Arles with sunflowers for the arrival of his friend Paul Gauguin.

“The skies are a delightful blue. The sun's rays are pale yellow. This is a soft, magical combination of sky blue and yellow tones from the paintings of Vermeer of Delft... I cannot paint something so beautiful...”- Van Gogh said doomedly. Perhaps this is why the artist painted sunflowers countless times.

Vase with 12 sunflowers, 1889

Unhappy love, poverty and non-acceptance of his work prompt the artist to crazy actions and significantly undermine his health. But the talented artist persistently wrote about painting: “Even if I fall ninety-nine times, I will still get up the hundredth time.”

Still life with red poppies and daisies. Auvers, June 1890.

Irises. Saint-Rémy, May 1890

All-encompassing still lifes of Paul Cézanne

“I want to return eternity to nature”- the great French artist Paul Cezanne liked to repeat. The artist depicted not the random play of light and shadow, which did not change, but the constant characteristics of objects.

Trying to show objects from all sides, he describes them in such a way that the viewer admires the still life, as if from different angles. We see the table from above, the tablecloth and fruit from the side, the box in the table from below, and the jug from different sides at the same time.

Peaches and pears, 1895

Still life with cherries and peaches, 1883-1887.

Still lifes by contemporary artists

The palette of colors and a wide variety of shades allows today's still life masters to achieve incredible realism and beauty. Do you want to admire the impressive paintings of talented contemporaries?

Briton Cecil Kennedy

It is impossible to take your eyes off the paintings of this artist - his forbs are so enchanting! Mmmm... I think I can already smell these amazingly beautiful flowers. And you?

Cecil Kennedy is rightfully considered the most outstanding British artist of our time. Winner of several prestigious awards and a favorite of many “powers that be,” Kennedy nevertheless became famous only when he was well over 40.

Belgian artist Julian Stappers

Information about the life of the Belgian artist Julian Stappers is scarce, which cannot be said about his paintings. The artist's cheerful still lifes are in the collections of the richest people in the world.

Gregory Van Raalte

Contemporary American artist Gregory Van Raalte pays special attention to the play of light and shadow. The artist is convinced that light should not fall directly, but through the forest, tree leaves, flower petals, or reflected from the surface of the water.

The talented artist lives in New York. He enjoys painting still lifes using watercolor technique.

Iranian artist Ali Akbar Sadeghi

Ali Akbar Sadeghi is one of the most successful Iranian artists. In his works, he skillfully combines the compositions of traditional Iranian paintings, Persian cultural myths with iconography and the art of stained glass.

Still lifes by contemporary Ukrainian artists

Whatever you say, Ukrainian brush masters have their own unique vision of His Majesty’s still life. And now I will prove it to You.

Sergei Shapovalov

Sergei Shapovalov’s paintings are full of sunbeams. Each of his masterpieces is filled with light, goodness and love for his native land. The artist was born in the village of Ingulo-Kamenka, Novgorodkovsky district, Kirovograd region.

Sergei Shapovalov is an Honored Artist of Ukraine, a member of the National Union of Artists.

Igor Derkachev

Ukrainian artist Igor Derkachev was born in 1945 in Dnepropetrovsk, where he still lives. For twenty-five years he attended the art studio of the House of Culture for Students named after. Yu. Gagarin, first as a student, and then as a teacher.

The artist’s paintings are pierced with warmth, love for native traditions and gifts of nature. This special warmth is transmitted through the author’s paintings to all fans of his work.

Victor Dovbenko

According to the author, his still lifes are a mirror of his own feelings and moods. In bouquets of roses, in scatterings of cornflowers, asters and dahlias, in “fragrant” forest pictures - a unique summer aroma and priceless gifts of the rich nature of Ukraine.

In fine art, the term "still life" refers to a specific genre of painting that involves the free arrangement of objects of everyday life on a table:

• cut flowers, especially roses,
• kitchen utensils,
• household items,
• fruits, vegetables, fruits,
• food products,
• fish,
• cooked food.

The term is a direct translation of the Dutch word "Stilleven", which has been used since 1656 to describe the genre of paintings. Previously, such paintings were simply called “Fruit”, “Flower”, “Roses”, “Breakfast”, “Banquet” or pronk (ostentatious).

In the Baroque era, allegorical images with religious overtones received the designation Vanitas (“vanity”). A mandatory attribute and the main emphasis in the paintings was the skull.

Kinds

Conventionally, still lifes are divided into four main groups, including:

• floral;
• breakfasts or banquets;
• emotional;
• symbolic.

Some works are done to demonstrate the technical virtuosity of drawing and the artist's ability, or to demonstrate emotion.

• emotional;
• luxurious;
• illusion canvases.

Famous still life paintings contained complex symbolic messages expressed in the type of objects. When studying the composition of a still life, each displayed element was a symbol and contributed a certain meaning to the picture. As a result, the still life genre, like landscape, usually does not contain human forms, but is capable of conveying a political, moral or spiritual message. Although supporters of academic fine art consider still life to be the simplest among the five main genres.

Allegory as a genre in painting

Symbolic paintings are a broad category of any type of still life painting with an overt religious character. A specific example of such symbolism is Vanitas painting, which flourished between 1620 and 1650 and contained symbolic images of skulls, candles, roses, hourglasses, playing cards, butterflies and other objects that were intended to remind the viewer of the transience and triviality of earthly life. Symbolic images in the paintings are openly religious - bread, wine, water and others.

Main characteristics of the canvases

The magic of still lifes lies in the ability to show our own perception of ordinary objects around us. The specific arrangement and depiction of objects using paint, ink, pastel or any other medium gives objects a whole new meaning.

The objects chosen for the paintings have special meaning on a personal, cultural, social, religious or philosophical level. The themes surrounding works of fine art provoke introspection and reflection on the viewer's mood. Therefore, the depicted objects evoke a wide range of emotions, depending on the placement, choice of color, and lighting.

Tromple or trompe l'oeil

The subject matter in still life paintings is determined by the objects represented. The study of symbolism allows one to gain insight into the meaning of the painting.
emotions and events, which is based on the material qualities of color or texture. Themes are gracefully woven into the depiction of beautiful objects, but not everyone is able to see the meaning within one work.

Story

The depiction of food was practiced in the ancient world, but was revived in art history as an independent genre in the 16th century. Regardless of the formation of the name of the genre, still life actively developed in the north of Europe - in Holland and Flanders among artists of the late Northern Renaissance. Schools of still life painting appeared in Naples, Spain and France.

Historically, still lifes have been imbued with religious and mythological meaning.
By the 16th century, society was changing. Science and the natural world began to replace religion in paintings.
By the mid-19th century, the natural world and roses had fallen out of fashion. In the works of painters, an interest in studying our inner world, mood and emotions appeared.

In the 20th century, still lifes dissolved into geometry. By the end of the millennium, objects in paintings became part of the Pop Art and Photorealism movements. Paintings today include a limitless range of modern objects, from a urinal to empty beer cans.

Caricature in painting

Still life of the Northern Renaissance and Dutch realism after 1517

The wealthy bourgeois society of the Netherlands is characterized by a materialistic display of conspicuous consumption. But it was in Western European painting that esoteric Christian symbolism and its complex language originated during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Still life began to be called “dead nature or nature,” and paintings contained an emphasis on inanimate symbolic connotations. Symbolism developed in the abstract and metaphysical mannerism of Italy and Spain in the 17th century:

Battle painting

In the 18th century

In French painting, J. B. Chardin (1699-1779) was a master of many types of still life, from modest kitchen objects to unique allegories and poetic conveying of emotions by the simple arrangement of fruits and roses. His works are distinguished by their realism due to the play of color and artistic rendering of lighting.

Anna Coster (1744-1818) was a follower of Chardin. Her work is often confused with the master's. But Koster’s compositions are more delicate and reproduce very strange objects.
Extravagant collections of corals and shells on a stone shelf amaze with almost photographic precision.

In the 19th century

Until the mid-nineteenth century, still life was considered an inferior genre with limited potential for the expression of theme. The philosophy of realism and pure painting by Courbet (1819-1877) was regarded as an independent means of form, color and paint. The painters ignored the mocking attitude towards the genre.

Features of ancient Greek vase painting

The revolution in painting led by Manet, Renoir (1841-1919), Cézanne (1839-1906), C. Monet (1840-1926) and Van Gogh (1853-1890) closed the topic of this discussion forever. Fans recognized that still life is an eloquent, poetic, “noble” genre of fine art.

In 20th century

Inanimate objects in the new still life express the mystery of the world through the correspondence between shapes and space.

Everyone admired Manet's plate of oysters, Cezanne's skulls and clocks, or Van Gogh's vase of irises as a wonderful interpretation of the world around him.

Cézanne paints an apple as a woman or a mountain, while J. Braque (1882-1963) depicts an apple as a set of overlapping geometric faces.

The transformation of form and content into the purest elements of geometry, color, as well as symbolism are visible in the compositions of G. Chirico (1888-1976) and S. Dali (1904-1989) - this is the beginning of the 20th century.

The enigmatic J. Morandi (1890-1964) brought his own style to painting - plasticity with a limited palette, reminiscent of Roman painting.

Household painting

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) exploited the genre to the maximum, striking with unimaginable forms and a wide range of stylistic permutations.

Andy Warhol's famous pop art transforms an everyday object into a colossal image.
Artists in the 20th century used still life as a laboratory to discover new techniques and test new conceptual ideas. They did this in representational and abstract formats, expanding into other genres, mixing painting with sculpture, collage, photography, video and holograms, in works that are classified as still lifes. You can see differences in the paintings today.

In a sweltering country summer or in a lingering blizzard. Without leaving home, you can find inspiration in ordinary fruits or unusual flowers. The subject does not try to turn its head, as in a portrait, and does not change shadows to light every second, as in a landscape. That’s what’s good about the still life genre. And “dead nature” translated from French, or “quiet life of things” in the Dutch version, really enlivens the interior. Natalya Letnikova presents the top 7 still lifes by Russian artists.

"Forest violets and forget-me-nots"

Forest violets and forget-me-nots

Isaac Levitan's painting is like a blue sky and a white cloud - from the singer of Russian nature. Only on the canvas is not native open spaces, but a bouquet of wildflowers. Dandelions, lilacs, cornflowers, immortelle, ferns and azaleas... After the forest, the artist’s studio turned into “either a greenhouse or a flower shop.” Levitan loved flower still lifes and taught his students to see both color and inflorescences: “They should smell not of paint, but of flowers.”

"Apples and Leaves"

Apples and leaves

The works of Ilya Repin organically set off the brilliant setting of the Russian Museum. The Itinerant artist composed a composition for his student, Valentin Serov. It turned out so picturesque that the teacher himself took up the brush. Six apples from an ordinary garden - bruised and with “barrels”, and a heap of leaves covered in autumn colors as a source of inspiration.

"Bouquet of flowers. Phloxes"

Bouquet of flowers. Phloxes

Painting by Ivan Kramskoy. “A talented person won’t waste time on depicting, say, basins, fish, etc. It’s good to do this for people who already have everything, but we have a lot to do,” Kramskoy wrote to Vasnetsov. And yet, at the end of his life, the famous portrait painter did not ignore the genre of still life. A bouquet of phlox in a glass vase was presented at the XII traveling exhibition. The painting was bought before the opening day.

"Still life"

Still life

Kazimir Malevich on the way to the “Black Square” through impressionism and cubism, bypassing realism. A bowl of fruit is the fruit of creative quests, even within the same picture: thick black lines of the French cloisonné technique, flat dishes and voluminous fruit. All components of the picture are united only by color. Characteristic of an artist - bright and rich. Like a challenge to the pastel colors of real life.

"Herring and Lemon"

Herring and lemon

Four children and painting. This combination in the life of an artist unmistakably dictates the genre. This is what happened with Zinaida Serebryakova. Numerous family portraits and still lifes, from which you can create a menu: “Fruit Basket”, “Asparagus and Strawberries”, “Grapes”, “Fish on Greens”... In the hands of a true master, “herring and lemon” will become a work of art. Poetry and simplicity: spiral lemon peel and fish without any frills.

"Still life with samovar"

Still life with samovar

A student of Serov, Korovin and Vasnetsov, “Jack of Diamonds” - Ilya Mashkov loved to depict the world around him, and more vividly. Porcelain figurines and begonias, pumpkins... Meat, game - in the spirit of the old masters, and Moscow bread - sketches from the Smolensk market of the capital. And according to Russian tradition, where would we be without a samovar? A still life from the area of ​​festive life with fruits and bright dishes is complemented by a skull - a reminder of the frailty of life.

"Study with medals"

Study with medals

Still life in Soviet style. The 20th century artist Anatoly Nikich-Krilichevsky showed in one painting the entire life of the first Soviet world champion in speed skating, Maria Isakova. With cups, behind each of which are years of training; medals that were won in a bitter struggle; letters and huge bouquets. A beautiful picture for an artist and an artistic chronicle of sporting success. Still life story.

Still life is one of the independent genres of painting. The uniqueness of the genre lies in its great visual possibilities. Through the material essence of specific objects, a true artist can reflect in figurative form the essential aspects of life, tastes and morals, the social status of people, important historical events, and sometimes an entire era.

The world of things in a still life is always intended to reveal their objective originality, unique qualities, and beauty. At the same time, it is always a human world, expressing the structure of thoughts and feelings, the attitude towards the life of people of a certain society.

Let's look at the difference between this genre and others. Unlike portraiture, which deals only with a person, or landscape, which recreates nature and architecture, a still life can consist of various household and personal items, elements of flora, works of fine art and much more. Still life, more than any other genre, eludes verbal descriptions. A still life must be carefully watched, examined, immersed in it, as it teaches one to comprehend painting, to admire its beauty, strength, depth - this is the only way to comprehend the true content of any painting, its image. In a still life, the painter turns to the world of inanimate things, highlighting them from all the richness of the surrounding world.

Still life is distinguished by its special principles of composition, despite all the differences in the historical and individual forms of this genre at different stages of its development. Objects here are usually taken close up, so that the eye can feel them, as it were, evaluate, first of all, their actual material qualities - their heaviness, the plasticity of forms, the relief and texture of the surface, details, as well as their interaction with the environment - their life in the environment. The scale of the composition in a still life is usually focused on the size of a small room item, hence the greater intimacy of the still life compared to other genres. At the same time, the form of the still life itself is deep and multi-tiered, multi-complex, meaningful: the structure of the still life, setting, choice, point of view, condition, nature of interpretation, elements of tradition, etc.

In a still life, the artist not only depicts an object, but through them expresses his idea of ​​reality and solves various aesthetic problems.

As an independent genre of art, still life has a strong impact on the viewer, since it evokes associative ideas and thoughts during the perception of inanimate objects, behind which people of certain characters, worldviews, and different eras are seen. The influence of a still life depends, first of all, on the correctly chosen and correctly disclosed theme, as well as on the peculiarities of the creative individuality of a particular artist.

This genre allows you to create a certain mood and image using simple objects. Throughout its entire history of development, still life contained symbolism, that is, certain objects had a certain meaning. With the help of this genre, artists convey their attitude to the world around them.

Still life, like no other genre, is directly related to the relationship to the image, to the solution of a specific visual task.

With all the diversity, the huge number of forms and varieties, still life remains a “small genre”, but this is precisely why it is valuable, because it turns painting, first of all, to itself and its eternal values ​​and problems.

Considering the genre of still life, you can see that it is distinguished by its unique principles. A still life becomes a work of art if the artist sees its plot, the features of the composition of the form, the color scheme, as a single plastic whole phenomenon.

Compared to a thematic picture or landscape, in a creative still life the artist has more freedom to control the arrangement of objects, which can, if necessary, be swapped, moved, removed, and finally, the level of vision for the setting can be changed. All compositional work focuses on the placement of a still life within the picture plane. Depending on the nature of the still life group - its height and width, the depth of space, the degree of contrast of objects in size and color, the format and size of the plane, the position of the compositional center are determined, the tonal and color solution is found, the search is underway for the most advantageous composition in which the issues will be resolved balance, proportional relationships.

In organizing the composition, various types of rhythms are used - linear, tonal, color. Contrasts play a special role. By highlighting certain areas of the image, they make them either more noticeable or fade away. A work built on barely noticeable fluctuations of light and without certain “flashes” that focus the viewer’s attention seems monotonous, monotonous, and devoid of pictorial expressiveness. Sharp-sounding contrasts (scale, tone) create tension and dynamics. In contrast to symmetry, a dynamic image is built on sharp shifts of the center of the composition from the axis of the picture plane. In these cases, the rhythms are aimed at achieving visual balance of the masses.

The subtleties of searching for a format include finding out the size of free spaces on the left and right, above and below a group of objects. It is most advantageous to place the main pear in the background, while the size of the image is somewhat reduced, but the aerial perspective is preserved, operating from the foreground into the depth of the picture plane.

If there is a significant amount of free space on one side or another of the format, the semantic, visual and compositional centers turn out to be strongly shifted in the opposite direction. In such cases, the still life looks overloaded in the part where the main mass is located, and thus the compositional balance is disrupted.

The world of things in a still life is always intended to reveal their objective originality, unique quality, and beauty. At the same time, this is always the human world, reflecting the structure of thoughts and feelings, attitude towards life. Objects are the language that the artist speaks, and he must master this language. In a bunch of greenery the painter expresses the fullness of life, in a sea shell - the sophisticated mastery of nature, in kitchen utensils - the joy of everyday work, in a modest flower - the whole universe.

Still life is “not only an artistic task,” but also a whole worldview. The world of things is the human world, created, shaped and inhabited by man. This is what makes still life, despite all the outward modesty of its motives, a deeply meaningful genre.

Still life as an independent genre of painting finally took shape in the 17th century. in the works of Dutch and Flemish artists.

Until that time, it was not an independent genre, but was only included in other genres as a frame for other paintings (for example, with flower garlands), decorating furniture, interiors, etc.

Term

The word “still life” translated from French means “dead nature” (nature morte). Flowers in a vase are a still life; the same flowers in a flowerbed or in the front garden - landscape. In a broad sense, a still life is an artistic depiction of inanimate objects: plants, game, dishes, etc. The artist does not depict objects “from life”, as they are located in the interior, but deliberately arranges them in such a way as to solve some of his own semantic and artistic problems.
Often still lifes contain a hidden allegory through the use of ordinary objects, which the artist endows with symbol, additional meaning and meaning. An example of an allegorical still life is vanitas (from the Latin vanitas “vanity, vanity”).

Varieties of still life

Vanitas

Michael Conrad Hirt. Vanitas
Vanitas is an allegorical still life. Usually it depicts, among other things, a skull. Such a still life is intended to remind us of the transience of life, the futility of pleasures and the inevitability of death - reflection on the meaning of human existence. The term is taken from a verse from the Bible: “Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” In Latin it sounded like this: “ Vanitas vanitatum dixit Ecclesiastes vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas" You can read more about vanitas.

Dutch still life

Dutch still life, formed in the 17th century. as an independent genre, influenced the further development of all European painting. It turns out that ordinary objects also live, but their life is quiet and unnoticeable to humans. There is some kind of mystery in this. Apparently, this is why the genre of still life became popular and has survived to this day. Sometimes a still life attracts the eye, excites the senses, it is impossible to tear yourself away from it - some associations arise, fleeting memories...

Flower still life

This type of still life is perhaps the most common and the very first to emerge as a separate genre.

Jan Davids de Heem (1606-1684). Still life with flower vase (circa 1645). National Gallery of Art (Washington)
Traditionally, many flowers were grown and gardens were planted in the Netherlands, so floral still lifes were a natural extension of social life. The very first artists of this genre were Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573-1621) and Balthasar van der Ast (1593-1657).

Ambrosius Bosshart the Elder "Tulips, roses, white and pink carnations, forget-me-nots and other flowers in a vase" (circa 1619). Oil on copper

Scientist still life

The most intellectual type of still life. Such still lifes required reflection on what was depicted, and for this, knowledge of the Bible and other knowledge about the world. Vanitas can also be included in this category, but the scientific still life has a broader theme: it contains books, musical instruments, etc.

Maria van Oosterwijk. Still life

D. Annenkov “Reflections with Baudelaire”

Still life in Russian painting

In Russia, still life as an independent genre appeared at the beginning of the 18th century. But for some time (almost until the end of the 19th century), still life was considered a lower genre and depicted only flowers and fruits.
A famous artist of this genre in the 19th century. there was I. Khrutsky.

I. Khrutsky. Still Life with Vase (1832)

I. Khrutsky “Flowers and Fruits” (1838)
In the 20th century Russian still life painting became equal among other genres. Artists worked on the perfection of color, form, composition, and the genre began to develop rapidly.
Famous Russian and Soviet artists who worked and are working in the still life genre: Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939), Igor Grabar (1871-1960), Pyotr Konchalovsky (1876-1956), Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin (1878-1939), Martiros Saryan ( 1880-1972), Ilya Mashkov (1881-1944), Elena Skuin (1909-1986), Peter Alberti (1913-1994), Sergei Osipov (1915-1985), Evgenia Antipova (1917-2009), Victor Teterin (1922- 1991), Maya Kopytseva (1924-2005), Yaroslav Krestovsky (1925-2003), Vladimir Stozharov (1926-1973), Boris Shamanov (1931-2008), etc.

E. Skuin “Peonies and Cherries” (1956)

V. Stozharov. Still Life with Rowan (1969)

Still life in various styles and art movements

Turn of the XIX-XX centuries. known for experiments in the field of artistic creativity. Still life also did not escape this fate. The first to experiment with still life were Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse and others.

P. Cezanne. Still life with drapery (1889). Hermitage (St. Petersburg)
The cubist P. Picasso boldly experimented.

P. Picasso “Jug, glass and book” (1908)
J. Braque also worked in the Cubist style.

J. Braque “Musical Instruments” (1908)
Cubo-futurists worked in search of a new space-time dimension.

K. Malevich “Cow and Violin” (1913). State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg)
His “... intuitive feeling found in things the energy of dissonance obtained from the meeting of two opposite forms” (K. Malevich “From Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism”).
In the metaphysical still lifes of Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964), objects press against each other, forming dense groups, as if trying to preserve warmth, fearing external cold and aggression.

Giorgio Morandi. Natura Morta (1956)
The most famous representative of surrealism, Salvador Dali, in his famous work “The Persistence of Memory,” which is essentially an allegorical still life, reflects on the relativity of time.

S. Dali “The Persistence of Memory” (1931)
Commercial advertising of the second half of the 20th century. fostered in people a greedy attitude towards things and insatiable consumption. There is a fetishization of the subject. Elements of the still life genre are beginning to transform from art into a source of consumption.

Andy Warhol "Campbell's Soup Can" (1968)
Dmitry Krasnopevtsev represents Russian “unofficial” art, although he has a completely official classical art education (graduated from the Moscow Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov).

D. Krasnopevtsev. Still life
Krasnopevtsev’s main genre is “metaphysical still life” close to surrealism with simple, often broken ceramics, dry plants and shells. These works, written in ashy tones, develop the motif of the frailty and unreality of the world.
But the still life paintings of the contemporary artist Dmitry Annenkov are quite “animated”. They are different: joyful, sad, funny, but quite alive. I want to touch them. Looking at these still lifes, it is impossible not to smile kindly.

D. Annenkov “Still life with a coffee grinder”

D. Annenkov “Spring Sun”

D. Annenkov “Memories of Summer”