Saturday, July 12, 2014

Still Life And Landscape Art

By Coleen Torres


In the hierarchy of genres set up by the Academy, the most important genres are history painting, portraiture and genre painting. Still life and landscape art were considered less important, and still life is on the fifth, while landscape is on the fourth place. Even so, some of the most beautiful paintings ever painted emerged here, for example, Van Gogh's Sunflowers or his extraordinary landscapes made in different techniques.

Until sixteenth century, still life was rarely painted. If you would like to describe this genre, the easiest thing to say is that artists paint inanimate objects, natural or manufactured. You will find one interesting description in the Tate museum Glossary. It says that they paint anything that doesn't move or is dead. Natural objects are often food or flowers, and made ones books or vases.

Although there is often some level of symbolism involved in this type of paintings, some famous painters, for example Cezanne, simply enjoyed playing with numerous possibilities this type of art allows. He was inspired by different shapes and colors. Arranging objects in space, he was able to express his thoughts and practice his technique.

The first recognized major work of Western still life is Caravaggio's basket of fruits. It was painted in 1596. During the early 1600s, this genre became popular in the Netherlands. These early works were mostly religious and symbolic. Floral motifs were especially prominent. Flowers were appreciated for their grace and fragrance, and paintings immortalized these values.

Breakfast and banquet motifs are very popular as well. Other popular themes are games and vanities. All pictures have one thing in common. The background is in dark, gray tones, tan colored, in one word, neutral. Main motif is usually bright colored, and there are some elements in gold and silver. Skulls, watches and similar objects are there to remind us of our mortality.

Landscape art, on the other hand, emerged at the same time, but with different motifs. It feature nature, including water, mountains, woods, vegetation, rivers and lakes. Some works are highly realistic, while others are impressionistic or idealized, depending on the period. Predominant is oil, but numerous artists rather use water colors or pastels. You will also find mixed techniques.

Although numerous examples of landscape art can be found all through the history, it became an independent genre in sixteenth century. This genre became more important in later periods. It is still popular today, but contemporary paintings of this type usually feature buildings, roads and similar, modern motifs.

In China, landscape art was highly appreciated long before. Western artists did paint them, but only as a background for their real motifs, mostly for different human activities. When Flemish and Dutch schools emerged in the seventeenth century, things have changed. Some famous artists such as Vermeer rose interest for this type of paintings. They finally became appreciated.

The most beautiful examples of landscape art were made in the nineteenth century, mostly in England and France. The most important artists in England were Constable and Turner. In France, there were several prominent artists such as Pissarro, Renoir and some other famous painters. Although you can maybe find people on their landscape pictures, the focus is always on the nature.




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