History
Still life (Coined in the 17th century and derives from the Dutch word stilleven) is a Dutch style of painting popular throughout Northern Europe during the early 1600s with arrangements of lavish and exotic objects with depth and meaning.
Abraham van Beyeren is a Dutch artist who painted ‘The Hague’. This painting includes fruits, a lobster, metalwork and glass to represent wealth, luxuries and earthly pleasures. Previous paintings of the century focused on reminders of immortality with wilting flowers, human skulls and rotting foods.
Timeline
Still life solidified itself as a genre from the Netherlands in the late 16th century hence ‘stilleven’ the Dutch origins for the English term still life. These were paintings made up of religious symbols. It emerged from rising fascinations with high detailed realism in art.
Gradually the religious symbolism was swapped with moral lessons, the natural world and exploration of the new world. This prompted the beginning of scientific illustrations and the appreciation of objects without religious or superstitious meanings. Interest with exploration of the new world brought newfound wealth and with it expensive arrangements of silvers and golds as opposed to flowers and meats.
By the 18th century production decreased in favour of Rococo decorations on porcelain and wallpapers. All religious symbolism had been lost and paintings were made up of interesting textures like feathers and fur instead.
The 20th century saw attention shifting to abstract, representational art instead. Detail had been replaced with bold outlines and vibrant colours, backgrounds were no longer plain and incorporated many different colours which was a major step towards abstract art.
Now in the 21st century still life has extended to all sorts of mediums such as sculptures, photography and digital art.
Objects and Meanings
Vanitas are a metaphor for transience(the state or fact of only lasting a short time) since the 1620s saw the outbreak of bubonic plague.
Memento Mori is an artistic reminder of the inevitability of death. Skulls, hourglasses, clocks and snuffed candles are all common symbols used in Memento Mori photography.
- Skulls represent the certainty of mortality probably because the skeleton is only visible after you’ve begun decomposing after death.
- Flowers represent life and growth because spring is when flowers bloom and their lives are so short that you can witness their whole cycle.
- Mirrors represent soul in reflection because they reflect.
- Musical instruments represent beauty and transience because music requires skill to master and can singlehandedly change the mood of a room as well as being an admirable skill and can create beautiful art pieces.
- Silvers and golds represent luxury because of the price tag associated with these items.
- Candles represent the passing of time because they gradually burn down.
- Seashells represent birth, purity and fertility.
- Insects represent transformation and decay because of the change from caterpillar to butterfly and they slowly eat away at plants and creatures.
- Dead animals represent contradiction and the hunt because they are either a predator which hunts or prey and will be hunted.
Final Image
For this photograph I only used 3 objects. The background is split in two with both black and white card used which lines up with the tapes and tools. I used a low angle which made the objects appear slightly larger so they would fill the shot. There are only three colours: black, white and red which I think creates a more uniformed look and gives the photograph a simplistic appearance. I changed the temperature because it had a blue tint before but also increased the exposure and contrast. This made the photograph brighter and the difference between tapes and tool clearer.