It is easy to see why so many people are moved by Leornardo’s Last Supper or Peter Paul Ruben’s The Elevation of The Cross. I mean, who wouldn’t enjoy noticing the expressions and gestures of the masses or witnessing Christ’s dramatic movements and restraints as he forgave and calmed the crowd in either case? These pictures peak due to motion and the presence of time and space, but what about the illustrations representing a still life? Now, a lot of people may have in mind- what is a still-life artwork and how you notice it at a single glance. So, let me explain it to you in simple terms. Still life paintings feature flowers, pots, tableware, vegetables and fruits, and all kinds of objects as the subject. It is common for them to insert a dramatic movement through the subject’s contrast to convey meaning or distinguish the ordinary household objects through positioning. Their beautiful representation of everyday things through paint and color makes them remarkable and a source of delight. In this article, I will explain some of the famous still-life paintings you should know about.
Famous Still Life Paintings To Observe.
1. Still Life With Melon by Claude Monet.
| Artist | Claude Monet |
| Year Painted | 1872 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Impressionism |
| Size | 20 7/8×28 3/4 in / 53 × 73 cm |
| Where is it housed? | Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon |
The painting depicts some fruits on a white tablecloth. Upon looking at it, the first thing that stands out to a viewer is the blue-designed floral plate, followed by the bowl of peaches, and finally, the cantaloupe. Monet exemplified the aesthetics of impressionism here through his lush and light-dappled craftsmanship of the ambiance. If you look closely, the brush strokes give you the feel of abstractionism in the composition. There is a wise use of light and shadow, which makes the objects appear crispier. This still-life artwork represents the nostalgic table setting of daily household objects in a very appealing way.
2. Still Life by Frida Kahlo.
| Artist | Frida Kahlo |
| Year Painted | 1942 |
| Medium | Oil on copper plate |
| Movement | Modernism, Magical Realism |
| Size | 63 cm in diameter |
| Where is it housed? | Frida Kahlo Museum, Mexico |
This composition is a realistic depiction of the dreams of Frida Kahlo. She wisely used symbolism through the fruits, leaves, roots, and flowers here. It includes sexual references with an approach to express a contribution towards feminism and her inner turmoil due to her relationship with Diego, her inability to give birth, and her sickness. In a real sense, the open papaya resembles a womb with the sperms flowing. Next to it, the coral fungus seems like the female ovaries, and the bananas are the open cherimoya showing female genitalia. At the corners and over the boundary, there is a wise use of flowers, which depict the precious movement of the conceive of female eggs. The use of bright colors and Mexican components, further, makes this a remarkable creation among the famous still-life paintings.
3. Still Life With Cantaloupe by William Mason Brown.
| Artist | William Mason Brown |
| Year Painted | 1880 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Impressionism |
| Size | 35.5 x 46 cm / 14 x 18 1/2 in |
| Where is it housed? | The Cleveland Museum of Art |
The still-life artwork depicts the fruits with the careful representation of homeliness on a table and a woven fine tablecloth. With the soft bruises, it is a portrayal of a romantic gateway through the pictures of fruits. There is a contrived arrangement of fruits, flowers, butter knife, and walnut with actual photographic clarity. The use of a fluid style to brighten the objects in a darker background is notable. The clarity of the image is so exemplary that even the spikes of the central fruit are clearly visible.
4. Still Life With Golden Goblet by Pieter de Ring.
| Artist | Pieter de Ring |
| Year Painted | 1650 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Baroque |
| Size | 100 x 85 x 9 cm |
| Where is it housed? | Rijks Museum, Amsterdam |
One of the famous still-life artists, Pieter de Ring, is known for his opulent banquet still-life art. This artwork represents fruits in a gorgeous color with striking contrast and sharp lines. Seafood and fruits are the dominant subjects in the composition. However, the most striking object is the red lobster sitting in the foreground. The artist clearly rendered excellent realistic properties, anatomy, and coloring of the article in the composition. If we go on to check the symbolism behind the painting, the red lobster represents luxury, death, and wealth. But since the lobster represents red color, which means it is cooked and, therefore, dead, this still-life painting leaves us with a message that all the worldly pleasures represented by fruits and vegetables will vanish after mortality. Or should I say that the artist’s lobster ironically represents the excess and end of excess?
5. Still Life With Mackerel by Anne Vallayer Coster.
| Artist | Anne Vallayer Coster |
| Year Painted | 1787 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Academicism |
| Size | 60.5 x 49.4 cm |
| Where is it housed? | Kimbell Art Museum |
Featuring a masterpiece of color, composition, and imitation, still life paintings are some of the most impressive works of Anne Vallayer Coster. An elegant, simple, and sumptuous feast dominates the composition, representing luxury and wealth. The painting consists of the dominant elements like the prestigious mackerel fish, cruet stand, verrière or wine glass cooler, flowers, and halved lemons on the white linen cloth. The use of Mackerel fish marks the arrival of spring in Paris and is an uncommonly rare subject to show the exquisite and expensive taste in the artistic world. You will notice that the artist’s approach was to showcase her luxurious taste through her choice of objects in the composition.
6. Living Still Life by Salvador Dalí.
| Artist | Salvador Dalí |
| Year Painted | 1956 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Surrealism |
| Size | 49 1/4 x 63 in |
| Where is it housed? | The Dali (Salvador Dalí Museum) |
When Salvador painted this composition, he left Surrealism far behind and started including himself immersed in the technique called Nuclear Mysticism. He created this artwork to determine the reanimation of his art with spirituality. Also, he used the emerging theories of physics and molecular biology to reveal the mysteries of religion here.
The composition portrays the importance of the spiral, which Dalì thought to be the most perfect nature symbol from the cosmic order. So you can witness the spiral structures throughout this work, from the rhinoceros horn in the upper left to the fruit dishes and cauliflower head in the form of a meteor. It is one of the famous still life paintings or as it should be said, the only artwork that made us believe in the existence of God through physics.
7. Still Life With a Skull and a Writing Quill by Pieter Claesz Dutch.
| Artist | Pieter Claesz Dutch |
| Year Painted | 1628 |
| Medium | Oil on wood |
| Movement | Baroque |
| Size | 9 1/2 x 14 1/8 in / 24.1 x 35.9 cm |
| Where is it housed? | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
The composition dates back to the early life of Claesz. He was the one who gave an extraordinary presence to the familiar things. For instance, in this composition, you see a skull, an overturned glass Roemer with a reflection, an expired lamp, and a writing quill, which all symbolically represent the attributes of a writer, suggesting that worldly efforts are ultimately in vain. One notable thing about this portrayal is that there is simplicity and directness. Take into consideration the smoke wisps and reflections in the glass, which are indicative of fleeting existence and are common to Dutch paintings. In this case, the skull is more than an intrusion into human activity and the mark of a scholar or philosopher. It signified the belief in spiritual life after death for the original owner.
8. Still Life With Peacocks by Rembrandt Van Rijn.
| Artist | Rembrandt van Rijn |
| Year Painted | 1639 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Baroque |
| Size | 145 x 135.5 cm |
| Where is it housed? | Rijks Museum |
Rembrandt is one of the greatest Baroque artists of his time with typical realism in his artworks. Here, the composition includes a dining area scene through the eyes of a young boy. During that time, peacock meat was often a part of meat pies, so he tried to get it in this dining room. As we see in the artist’s storeroom, after the bird died, it was hung to bleed out immediately. There is no doubt that he was captivated by the plumage’s splendid markings, and the riot of colors: blue, green, and yellow ochre. The brush strokes you see in this famous still-life art are clear and well-defined.
9. Sunflowers by Vincent Willem van Gogh.
| Artist | Vincent Willem van Gogh |
| Year Painted | 1888 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Post Impressionism |
| Size | 92.2 x 73 cm / 36.3 x 29 in |
| Where is it housed? | National Gallery, London |
The artist painted this extraordinary piece of Sunflowers with a luminous memory in the depths of the winters of 1889. One thing to be noted here is that Van Gogh painted the sunflowers repeatedly in different arrangements, and this composition is the best hit among others, making a famous still-life painting to be experienced. If you look in proximity at the shapes, colors, and cheerfulness of the delightful flower, you will be appealed by them, just like Vincent was. He tried associating the yellow color of different shades into this, typically so tough to understand. He took them from sunshine, the south, and Christ. Furthermore, there is the imitation of reality here in these flowers- few of them look fresh, and few seem to fade and wilt.
10. Still Life With Fruits and Flowers by Pieter Snijers.
| Artist | Pieter Snijers |
| Year Painted | Unknown |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Size | 58.8 x 49 cm |
| Where is it housed? | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford |
The artist painted the still life with elements of forest floors, the profuse composition of smaller objects like insects, a vase with a reflection, blossoms, nuts, and other items in the interiors. The center article of the picture is a jug with a golden accent, which includes a reflection of a small boy with a drapery. Further, it also has a golden statue-like figure over the same jug, depicting a young boy. Pieter illustrates the painting with different components, and every single minute says aloud a story here.
11. A Still Life With Fruit, Dead Game and a Parrot by Jan Fyt.
| Artist | Jan Fyt |
| Year Painted | Late 1640s |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Baroque |
| Size | 84.7 x 133.4 cm |
| Where is it housed? | National Gallery, London |
In the composition, Jan depicted a hare carcass hung from the fixing of a wall and his wound on a furry stomach. Its leg is flopping lifelessly towards an overflowing basket of fruit. Below it, you see three dead birds with a brace of partridges and a jay. The still-life painting has a precious blue and white porcelain bowl consisting of strawberries, apricots, pears, and other fruits. There lies a symbolism displayed with the opposites of flora and fauna mixing with life and death. Though the parrot is alive and well, it narrates that eventually, it would meet the same end with an unceremoniously piled with the other dead animals here.
12. Still Life With Skull Paul Cézanne.
| Artist | Paul Cézanne |
| Year Painted | 1890-93 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Post Impressionism |
| Size | 54 x 65 cm |
| Where is it housed? | Philadelphia Museum of Art |
In Still Life With Skull, Cézanne illustrates familiar objects in unexpected and animated ways, bridging the gap between abstraction and illustration. In this composition, you see a human skull atop a loosely folded piece of drapery in this photograph. As a result of its scale, the skull’s curvature reflects the strewn fruit, distinguishing it from the other forms. The tilted plate with the peach or the pears on the edge of the table conveys tension and a sense of precarity. There is a slight distortion in Cézanne’s view of the table on which the skull and fruit are arranged. In the left side of the image, the table is directly in front of the viewer, while on the right side of the image image, the table is slightly above the viewer. The painting breaks down the static scenes into a bold geometrical form with the juxtaposition of spatial planes, making this one of the more famous still-life paintings to set the highest stage.
13. Dressing Table by Amrita Sher-Gil.
| Artist | Amrita Sher-Gil |
| Year Painted | 1931 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Neo-Realism |
| Size | 45.5 x 53.5 cm |
| Where is it housed? | National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi |
The modernist female artist who influenced pre-independence Indian art to a great extent, Amrita Sher-Gil painted The Dressing Table, which is essentially a real depiction. Influenced by post-expressionism, this artwork exhibits the use of lines for details and neutral colors. What makes it among the famous still life paintings is the adjacency with reality the artist used for depicting a dressing table arranged by women. The presence of objects like a bottle of perfume, the pearl necklace, the flowers, and the accessory box are evidence of her feminist inclusion in Indian art. One can also track details through the mirror effect Sher-Gil gave to the surface of the dressing table.
Final Words.
There isn’t a necessity of asking the question, which of these famous still life paintings do you like. However, one that I may end up asking is which reflected the most realistic attributes to you. The nature and artistry of all of these frames differed vastly, even after falling under the same classification, an art that portrays the nearest reality from different worlds.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Still life art represents inanimate visuals, essentially the ones that are man-made, depictions of nature, and portraitures with still objects in the foreground. The oldest living still-life paintings trace back to the ancient Graeco-Roman walls. However, it was only in the 17th century when the Netherlands coined the terms still ligende leven or stilleven meaning model lying still.
While there are several famous still life paintings to learn from, this read lists thirteen that can explain the art style through different depictions.
There are several painters who made successful attempts to portray still-life depictions. However, some of the famous painters of still life are Caravaggio, Pieter Claesz, and Evaristo Baschenis.
Still life is important as it represents the relationship between art and reality, perception and representation, as well as shows the artist’s views on society.
Vase with 15 Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh is the most expensive still life painting, auctioned by Christie’s for $39.9 Million in 1987.
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