This is a type of painting that portrays inanimate objects and subject matters such as foods, fruits, plants, rocks, drinking glasses, cigarettes, house and several other objects that you can think of. Still-life painting is well recognised in western art during the 17th century as it gives more freedom for the artists in the arrangement and design of the elements than other form of paintings such as landscape and portrait.
This form of painting goes way back to the Ancient Egyptian times where this civilization loves to decorate their walls of the tombs. It is the belief of ancient Egyptians that all the foods and objects portray in their painting will become real in the afterlife and can already be used by the deceased. The Romans also practised this form of painting in their frescoes.
Banquet Still Life
During the middle ages and the renaissance period, the art was mainly used as an attachment to religious subjects. This can be seen on the work of several North European artists where their paintings put emphasis on meaning of various props, objects and settings in the painting’s message.
This form of art was revitalized in the modern times when the rise of Post-Impressionist and Impressionist highlighted the design and technique on the subject matter. Among the famous still life painting in this period is the “sunflowers” which was painted by Vincent Van Gogh. There are also painters that were known for their still-life paintings such as Henri Fantin-Latour.
Here are some of the famous still life paintings: