Discussion

Still Life Paintings

A still life drawing or painting is one in which the subject matter is an arrangement of inanimate objects. They may be natural things like food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc. The objects could also include man-made objects like drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, etc. The range of objects is nearly unlimited with the sole exception that there is nothing living or capable of moving in a still life painting.

Among Western artists, the Dutch were especially famous for their still lifes in the 16th and 17th centuries. An example below is Clara Peeters' (fl. 1607–1621) Still Life with Cheeses, Almonds and Pretzels (1615). Little is known about Peeters' life other than she was one of the very few female painters in that era.

Here is another still life example, this time by William Michael Harnett (1848 – 1892), an American painter known for trompe-l'œil paintings of ordinary objects. This is his Still Life with Pipe, Newspaper & Tobacco Pouch (1897).

There is nothing that requires that the still life be complex or cluttered with objects. My demonstration painting this week contains only two autumn vegetables, a Chinese cabbage ...

... and a Japanese turnip.

There are quite a few autumn vegetables. The photos below are a few of them. They may be helpful in deciding what subjects to choose for your own paintings.

Onions

Potatoes

Ginger

Cauliflower

Celery

Gourds and Pumpkins

Beans

Peppers

Brussel Sprouts

Though some classical Japanese artists painted still lifes, there were relatively few who did so, and those were mostly after the end of the Edo Period (1603 - 1868) when Japanese artists became heavily influenced by Western art. For that reason, I have included a couple more Western still lifes along with some Japanese still lifes below.

Shibata Zeshin (1807 – 1891)

Zeshin's career spanned the transition from late Edo Period art to the early modern era. His was work was criticized by some for being too modern, too influenced by Western art. Others thought he was too conservative for doing little to stand out from his contemporaries. He painted in conventional media, but his specialty was lacquer painting. Today, Zeshin is known as Japan's greatest lacquerer. Here are two of his hanga (woodblock prints) still lifes, both executed in the 1880s. The first features a saw, a basket and a sake cup near a stream.

The next is a still life of a bonito, lobster, sea bream, abalone and clams depicted in uchiwa (round fan) format. The publisher's stamp in the lower left indicates that this is a rare print sent for marketing purposes to dealers and other retail outlets.

Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853 – 1890)

Van Gogh needs little introduction. Though one of the French Impressionists, he was highly impressed with Japanese art; especially ukiyo-e. He had a collection of more than 100 of them and sometimes made paintings with Japanese prints in the background. More than once, he painted his own versions of Utagawa Hiroshige's (1797 – 1858) works. His Still Life of Jugs and Gourds (1885) is the only example I have of a still life with autumn vegetables.

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903)

Gauguin was another leading French Impressionist artist. Besides Van Gogh, he was one of many other Western artists influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e. Some others were James Whistler, Mary Cassatt, Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Pierre Bonnard. This still life by Gauguin illustrates his interest in ukiyo-e by including one hanging on the wall in the background.

Unknown Japanese Artist

This final Japanese still life print, Decorative Bowl and Scissors, was produced sometime in the 1890s.