13 Famous Still Life Paintings That Showed The Most Reality
Updated: Feb 16
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 still life artwork and how you notice them 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 move 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 colour makes them remarkable and a source of delight. In this article, I will provide some of the best and famous still life paintings you should know about.
Famous Still Life Artworks In The World To Know About.
1. Still Life With Melon By Claude Monet.
Artist | Claude Monet |
Date painted | 1872 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Movement | Impressionism |
Size | 20 7/8×28 3/4 in / 53 × 73 cm |
Where is it now? | 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 air craftmanship. If you look closely, the brush strokes give you the feel of abstractionism in a composition. There is a wise use of light and shadow, which makes the objects appear crispier. This famous 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 |
Date painted | 1942 |
Medium | Oil on a copper plate |
Movement | Surrealist (rejected by the artist), Realist |
Size | 63 cm in diameter |
Where is it now? | Frida Kahlo Museum, Mexico |
The composition is a realistic depiction of the dreams of Frida. 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 relationship, child impotency and 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 then 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 colours 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 |
Date painted | 1880 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Movement | Impressionism |
Size | 35.5 x 46 cm / 14 x 18 1/2 in |
Where is it now? | 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 fluid style to brighten the objects here 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 |
Date painted | 1650 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Movement | Baroque |
Size | 100 x 85 x 9 cm |
Where is it now? | Rijks Museum, Amsterdam |
One of the famous still life artists known for his opulent banquet still life art. This artwork represents fruits in a gorgeous colour 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 colouring 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 colour, which means it is cooked and so dead, this one of the famous still life paintings 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 |
Date painted | 1787 |
Medium | Academic oil on canvas |
Size | 60.5 x 49.4 cm |
Where is it now? | Kimbell Art Museum |
Featuring a masterpiece of colour, composition, and imitation, still life artwork is one 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 |
Date painted | 1956 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Movement | Surrealism |
Size | 49 1/4 x 63 in |
Where is it now? | 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 Dali 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 |
Date painted | 1628 |
Medium | Oil on wood |
Size | 9 1/2 x 14 1/8 in / 24.1 x 35.9 cm |
Where is it now? | 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 |
Date painted | 1639 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Size | 145 x 135.5 cm |
Where is it now? | 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 colours: 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 |
Date painted | 1888 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Movement | Post Impressionism |
Size | 92.2 x 73 cm / 36.3 x 29 in |
Where is it now? | National Gallery of 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 it one of the famous still life paintings to be experienced. If you look in proximity, at the shapes, colours and cheerfulness of the delightful flower, you will be appealed by them, just like Vincent was. He tried associating the yellow colour of different shades into this, typically so tough to understand. He took them from sunshine, the south, and Christ. Furthermore, there is one inspiring thing here in these flowers. Few of them would look fresh, and few seem to fade and wilt. It is an exceptional approach of Vincent to show his mind through his beautiful artworks by portraying reality in his works.
