Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
I have a question for Ricochet art experts. What explains the allure of a great still life? A decade or so ago, my wife, son, and I spent several hours in the Prado, Madrid's great museum. Along with works by Rembrandt, Van Dyck and and other great painters, it has the greatest collection of the works of Velasquez and Goya, not to mention El Greco. And they were stunning.
But in the end both my wife and I were blown away by the still life paintings of Luis Melendez (1716-80). Food, particularly bread, vegetables, and fruit were his primary subjects, yet they were among the most emotionally satisfying paintings in the museum. Can anyone explain this? Nothing happens in them. There are no people in the picture--yet they seem so human. A photograph of the same items would be mundane, but to see them painted so beautifully is a truly aesthetic experience.
- Comment (80)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (5)
Comments:
Aug '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
It's appreciating common objects so very much that you record their beauty with loving accuracy. It's appreciating the world as it is.
The artist is saying that a piece of fruit, or a hunk of bread is such a marvelous thing that its existence is worth recording with the same care you would take to paint the portrait of the most famous person. Or, at least this is my own experience with drawing still-lifes.
Every once in a while you find photographic still-lifes that are as transporting as painted ones, but it requires more than just snapping a shot. It requires putting the same kind of care into the lighting and composition that you would have put into making a painting.
Masatomo Kuriya has produced some still-life photographs that I find just as arresting as painted still-lifes (though I find other of his photographs -- particularly the ones with the tulips -- rather insipid).
You might appreciate this article by the composer Morton Lauridsen on how a still-life can inspire a musical work (a good musical work, BTW).
Edited on May 22, 2012 at 12:19amMay '11
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
I'm pretty ignorant about art, but I can speak from a musical angle. I think in some ways a still life is like "pure" music forms such as the sonata or symphony or fugue. These can be compared to "programmatic" forms such as opera, song and ballet.
Not intending to make a comparative value judgment. There is beauty in each. In so many ways, the beauty is in what the artist does with limited, seemingly mundane material.
Personally, I prefer Beethoven's 5th (built on 4 notes) to Wagner's Ring Cycle (built on Norse mythology.)
Jun '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
MFR and Paul: Thanks. I knew members of the Ricochet brain trust could help explain this. Both of you have helped.
When I said a photo of the elements of the still-life would be boring, I was referring to my kind of ill-lit photos.
Two more dumb questions:
Who are the other great still-life artists?
How do good still-life artists make a glass object look real? The ability to do that with paint seems miraculous. I just can't my un-artistic brain around how that's done.
Apr '12
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
Paul Cézanne: "Still life with fruit basket (the kitchen table)" 1880-90 (Paris, Orsay)
I love this one, Tabula! To me, it conveys the same love of the simple things in life as does the Luis Melendez.
The Prado, Madrid, is one of my favorite galleries. Breathtaking!
Apr '12
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
I thought I was posting a picture with my last post. What happened? Why didn't it appear? I am new to this game. I will have to learn how to post pictures. Sorry, Tabula, it is such a lovely picture.
Jun '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
Importing pictures is still a bit of a mystery to me. I can find it on the Internet. Thanks so much.
Mar '11
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
@Red Feline, it could be that you browsed to the picture, but didn't hit the "upload local file" button, which should then display the picture in your comment.
Is this the one?
Jun '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
Percival: @Red Feline, it could be that you browsed to the picture, but didn't hit the "upload local file" button, which should then display the picture in your comment.
Is this the one? · 2 minutes ago
Beautiful. I like it very much.
As I've pondered other comments and thought a bit more about it, there is a sense of completeness about a good still-life. I don't have the artistic vocabulary, but they seem to be a little world of their own, but filled with ordinary, everyday gifts from God. In the Melendez still-life, the bread looks as good and wholesome as it must have looked to Melendez.
As I grow older, I find a greater desire for things with beginnings and ends--things with boundaries and order.
Edited on May 21, 2012 at 3:08amAug '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
tabula rasa:
How do good still-life artists make a glass object look real? The ability to do that with paint seems miraculous. I just can't my un-artistic brain around how that's done.
Actually, this was one of my favorite subjects with chalk and watercolor back when I was a kid.
Our brains naturally interpret what our eyes see into symbols so that we can easily identify objects.
To draw reflections accurately, you have to turn the symbolic interpretations of what you're seeing off, and concentrate only on the geometric patterns of light actually hitting your eyes. This also helps with drawing perspective and foreshortening accurately. It's a pretty zen thing (or as close to zen as a very un-zen scatterbrain such as myself ever gets).
The philosopher Iris Murdoch called such processes "unselfing". You get so wrapped up in the thing you're observing that you forget about yourself and your symbolic interpretations of the world around you.
(Oddly enough, the objects in still-lifes are often arranged to have a symbolic meaning. But the mechanics of drawing require temporarily forgetting to look at the objects as symbols.)
Aug '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
Oh, and since reflections can change even with slight changes in head position, you have to pick the view you want to draw the picture from, memorize what the reflections look like from that view, and return your head to the same spot (based on your memory of the reflections) each time you want to refresh your memory.
If you're working with the sun as your light source, the changing angle of the sun throughout the day could change your picture noticeably, so you have to find a way of taking that into account when you draw. (Working quickly on something not too ambitious is one solution.)
Jun '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Actually, this was one of my favorite subjects with chalk and watercolor back when I was a kid.
Our brains naturally interpret what our eyes see into symbols so that we can easily identify objects.
To draw reflections accurately, you have to turn the symbolic interpretations of what you're seeing off, and concentrate only on the geometric patterns of light actually hitting your eyes. This also helps with drawing perspective and foreshortening accurately. It's a pretty zen thing (or as close to zen as a very un-zen scatterbrain such as myself ever gets).
The philosopher Iris Murdoch called such processes "unselfing". You get so wrapped up in the thing you're observing that you forget about yourself and your symbolic interpretations of the world around you.
(Oddly enough, the objects in still-lifes are often arranged to have a symbolic meaning. But the mechanics of drawing require temporarily forgetting to look at the objects as symbols.) · 6 minutes ago
Well said. I'm unschooled in art, but even so I can tell when something hits a sweet spot--I just can't explain it. Maybe that's the mystery of art.
Mar '11
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
I think it might have a little to do with the things that you see every day without ever really looking at them. You are seeing the familiar, even the mundane, through new eyes.
I'm partial to Monet, myself.
I like the Impressionists. This probably marks me as a hopeless Philistine, but I've never even been to the Middle East, honest!
Jun '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
Percival: I think it might have a little to do with the things that you see every day without ever reallylooking at them. You are seeing the familiar, even the mundane, through new eyes.
I'm partial to Monet, myself.
I like the Impressionists. This probably marks me as a hopeless Philistine, but I've never even beento the Middle East, honest! · 2 minutes ago
Impressionism is so last-century. I too have always loved the French impressionists (which may be the only thing about that otherwise benighted nation that I do like).
I saw a Monet collection several years ago at one of the Smithsonian locations. Seeing them in person makes them even more impressive (pardon the pun). Too close and you're not even sure what you're seeing (though the brush strokes are pretty amazing). Back off just the right distance and voila, the sublime emerges.
Edited on May 21, 2012 at 3:36amOct '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
These still lifes are highly romanticized in detail, similar to Audubons works. Such skills to makes a glass appear real on canvas are a lost art. Simply requires too much time, understanding of the application of materials and practice., aside from having vision.
Having been a recognized artist in ones youth, asked my mentor how could one make money as a Commercial Artist.
They reply was, learn how to draw a teacup however your client wants. Interesting take on sustainable creativity.
Tha Masters we so admire were free to express things our current state of thinking simply cannot cope with. Have we truly reached some artistic limit ?
Edited on May 21, 2012 at 3:40amJun '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
Well, there is art for art's sake, and there is the time-honored art of keeping the client happy.
I'm envious of those with some talent--even my stick-figures look fake.
Edited on May 21, 2012 at 3:39amApr '12
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
Thanks, Tabula, for the tip. That is the one. I've tried again and will try to hit the correct button. The preview worked. I think this might.
Apr '12
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
It did! You have released a monster! 8-))
Jun '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
The kitty has turned into a lion.
Apr '12
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
Absolutely, indeed, Tabula!
I know this Picasso is not a still life in the true sense of that description, but I think this my most favorite of his works: Cat Catching a Bird. There is a Picasso exhibition on at present at the Art Gallery Ontario (AGO), Toronto, Canada.
Now to try again:
Aug '10
Re: Why Is the "Still Life" So Appealing?
tabula rasa
I don't have the artistic vocabulary, but they seem to be a little world of their own, but filled with ordinary, everyday gifts from God.
Yes. Still-lifes are prayers of thanksgiving, even when their mood is somber.
Since you were in Spain, you may have seen some of Juan Sanchez Cotan's still-lifes. Here's perhaps my favorite. It's so simple.
Some Spanish artist working in the same style did a moving portrait of I think a single dead poultry bird hung upside-down, but I can't remember who. It was sort of a crucifixion, avian-style.