Still Life Genre (yr13)

The genre of Still Life is rich with metaphors, symbolism and vitality. From the Dutch Vanitas painters of the 16th century to contemporary interior installations - it is a deceptively quiet subject matter. 

USEFUL GENRE LINKS: 

The Tate website has a useful definition of the Still Life genre together with suggested links, with the memento mori explanation of particular importance. 

The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC has published a great book on Still Life painting, with a helpful section on ars longa, vita brevis (art is long, life is short). 

'Objects of Desire' was an exhibition of modern Still Life works held at MOMA, New York in 1997. This review, by John Harber, discusses the impact of the works, together with a co

mprehensive context. 

USEFUL ARTIST LINKS: 

1600 - 1800

Jacques de Gheyn the Elder; Pieter Claesz ; Johannes Vermeer ; Margareta Haverman ; Paulus Theodorus van Brussel ; Jan van Huysum .

There is an engaging interactive Still Life painting programme at the NGA website. Create complex compositions, contemplate those simple spatial concepts, experiment with composition, scale and perspective. Play and Print. 

1800 - 1900 

                   

The great changes of this century still pack a great visual punch today. Artists such as Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin (the Post-Impressionists); Bonnard and Vuillard all began to use new approaches to paint and subject matter. The latter of these painters grouped together and were labeled Les Nabis. 

1900 - 1950

A lot can happen in half a century! Evidence can be found in the work of Henri Matisse and The Fauves ; Picasso and his relief constructions of everyday objects and scenes; the Cubist investigations of Juan Gris; metaphysical Surrealist Giorgio deChirico; the delicate collages of Kurt Schwitters; Georgia O'Keefe; the delicate formal studies of Giorgio Morandi; and the weird and wonderful Marcel Duchamp, the Dada and Surrealist artist who pioneered the use of 'ready-mades' as art. 

1950 - 2000

It is doubtful if any of the following would classify themselves as 'still life' artists, however there are definite links to be made. Contemporary artists are pre-occupied with 'ready-mades', metaphors for mortality, and the accouterments of modern life - not dissimilar to those many centuries before. Search out the work of the following artists - Daniel Spoerri, James Rosenquist, Wayne Thiebaud, Claus Oldenburg, Patrick Caulfield, Michael Craig-Martin, Cornelia Parker, Bill Woodrow, Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn. 

2000 - 2008

Sam Taylor-Wood, Thomas Demand, Katharina Fritsch, Grayson Perry, Doris Salcedo, Rachel Whiteread. 

R Davies

shoot that still life (yr9)

Year 9 pupils were given quite a challenge in their first three Art lessons of the year - to make the boring interesting! 

The Still Life genre is full of exciting examples of dull objects transformed into vibrant and meaningful art (go to the Tate Gallery website for a bit of context). We decided that animating conventional still life objects would be an interesting place to start. Pupils in 9G and 9H looked at artist Sam Taylor-Wood's seminal re-working of a still life convention, the decaying bowl of fruit, to get ideas for their animations. This film explores ideas about mortality and the fragility of human life. The latin phrase memento mori is used to describe a whole body of such still life art works. 

Pupils in 9G and 9H responded brilliantly to this challenge, but don't take my word for it - play the above films and see for yourselves!

R Davies