Painting. Still Life.
Gallery 2
Viktor Mikhailovsky
Gallery 2
Still lifes in the tradition of Caravaggism appeared in Spain. They are marked by a preoccupation with fine plastic forms
and chiaroscuro. In Spanish painting the depiction of objects, which are often quite commonplace, is marked by sublime
austerity and signifies the renunciation of the secular world (J. Sanchez Cotan, F. Zurbaran, A. Pereda). Dutch still-life
painting reflects an interest in simple motifs. Informal and popular images predominate. There is concern for rendering
effects of light, textural diversity, subtle tonal relationships, and color structure—ranging from the refined, modest color of
V. Heda and P. Claesz’ monochromatic “breakfast” pieces to W. Kalf’s compositions done in a contrasting and effective
palette (“desserts”). Dutch still-life painting is distinguished by its diversity and by the large number of artists who worked in
the genre. In addition to “breakfast” and “dessert” pieces, there were still lifes of fish by A. Beyeren, flowers and fruits by J.
D. de Heem, game by J. Weenix and M. Hondecoeter, and the allegorical vanitas. The Dutch variation of the term still
life—still-leven—originally meant “motionless model” and did not come into use until the end of the 17th century. The term
unifies all the above-mentioned variations.
Flemish still lifes, consisting primarily of depictions of markets, shops, and flowers and fruits, are distinguished by the
scope of compositions, with their multitude of objects and their pictorial grandeur and dynamism. These works constitute a
hymn to fertility and abundance (F. Snyders, J. Fyt). German still-life painting developed in the 17th century (G. Flegel, C.
Paudiss), as did French still-life painting (L. Baugin). At the end of the 17th century, the decorative tendencies of court art
dominated French still lifes. Together with flower pieces (J. B. Monnoyer and his school) and hunting scenes (A. F.
Desportes and J. B. Oudry), still-life subjects from everyday life were occasionally depicted. In 18th-century France, one of
the outstanding masters of still-life painting, J. B. S. Chardin, produced works characterized by a grasp of pictorial form, a
casual composition, and rich color. His depiction of everyday objects is essentially democratic, intimate, and personal, as
though infused with the poetry of the domestic hearth.
The still life emerged in Russian art in the 18th century together with other forms of secular painting. Its appearance
reflected the cognitive spirit of the epoch and the striving to paint the objective world with truth and accuracy (the trompe
l’oeil works by G. N. Teplov, P. G. Bogomolov, and T. Ul’ianov). Russian still-life painting developed at an irregular pace. Its
moderate flowering in the early 19th century (F. P. Tolstoi, I. T. Khrutskii, and the school of A. G. Venetsianov) resulted from
the desire to apprehend beauty in that which is small and ordinary. During the late 19th century, still-life studies were only
occasionally produced by I. N. Kramskoi, I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, V. D. Polenov, and I. I. Levitan. The unimportance of the
still life in the art of the peredvizhniki (the “wanderers—a progressive art movement) resulted from their ideological
preference for narrative and thematic paintings. The substantive importance of still-life studies increased at the turn of the
20th century (M. A. Vrubel’, V. E. Borisov-Musatov).
