Tag: Still Life

The Louvre: Things, a History of Still Life

The Louvre: Things, a History of Still Life

“There is still life in still lifes”

Musée du Louvre Paris is hosting an exceptional exhibition, “Les choses, une histoire de la nature morte” or “Things, a history of still life”. Still life, the exhibition argues, is not about “nature morte” which is the French expression for still life and literally translates to “dead nature”, but about a living form of art, animated by the heart and mind of the artist, the viewer and their surroundings. The French expression “nature morte” is implying that, in order to capture the richness of the natural world around us, it needs to be fixed and robbed of life. The Louvre exhibition changes this view. The “things” on the exhibition encourage to look at “still lifes” in a fresh way and to think and dream together with the artist. To contemplate the world of “things” as if they were indeed alive. The Louvre proves there is still life in still lifes.

Hereunder a personal selection, starting in 1964 and backwards to the 15th Century. I will try to emphasise the “life” in these still lifes.

Marcel Broodthaers (1924 – 1976) “Casserole and Closed Mussels” 1964, Mussel shells, pigment, polyester resin and iron casserole with wooden handles, 31x28x25cm, Tate, London.

Casserole and Closed Mussels (1965) by Marcel Broodthaers is a work that uses empty mussel shells as both subject and medium. The mussel shells were obtained from a restaurant that he frequented in Brussels. The cooking pot belonged to the Broodthaers’s family and was used right up until the time that the work was created. The mussel shell can be read as symbolizing the artist’s native Belgium, mussels being a popular national dish. Broodthaers’s use of mussels also refers to the representation of shellfish in Flemish 17th Century still life painting, where the empty shell became a symbol of vanity and the futility of luxury. 

Giorgio Morandi (1890 – 1964) “Natura morta” 1944, 31x53cm, Centre Pompidou, Paris.

This Natura Morta is exemplary of Giorgio Morandi‘s art of translating the mystery and poetry of simple things. He would depict the same familiar bottles and vases again and again in paintings notable for their simplicity of execution. Morandi chose these ordinary objects and staged the pots and vases in an ever different manner, against a neutral background, and painted in soft whitish colors. They seem frozen in time, silent and secret. Morandi has thus immortalized these things and made them present to the world, in a way that exceeds their function and simplicity. Morandi made over 1000 paintings and created his own recognizable style. The artist lived his whole life in Bologna, Italy, where the Morandi Museum contains a major collection of his work. The Casa Morandi, where he lived with his sisters and where he had his workshop can be seen in its original form, including the cupboards with the simple pots, bottles and vases he used for his many still lifes.

Joan Miró (1893 – 1983) “Still Life with Old Shoe” Paris 1937, 81x117cm, MoMA Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Joan Miró painted Still Life with Old Shoe in 1937, being exiled to Paris in the midst of the Spanish Civil War. Over a few months he created Still Life with Old Shoe, which was his first painting with recognisable objects after a decade of abstract work. Miró said: “The composition is realistic because I was paralysed by the feeling of terror and almost unable to paint at all… We are living through a terrible drama, everything happening in Spain is terrifying in a way you could never imagine.” Miró painted in his words “something very serious”, a “tragedy of things, a miserable piece of bread, an old shoe, an apple pierced by a cruel fork and a bottle, like a flaming house that spread the fire over the whole surface”. The whole painting seems to be set against the backdrop of a burning, hellish landscape. The apple is brownish-yellow, which suggests rotting. Miró himself stated “The fork attacks the apple as if it were a bayonet. The apple is Spain.” This painting is Miró’s traumatised reaction to the Spanish Civil War.

Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1903) “La Table de cuisine, The Kitchen Table” c.1889, 65x82cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

The “things” on the Kitchen Table by Cézanne are assembled by the painter’s mind, not by putting the objects on a table and copying that image on a canvas. For Cézanne, it’s not about showing reality. The ginger-pot, which appears in 12 of Cézanne’s paintings, has no surface to sit on, and neither has the large basket at the back. None of the table, cupboard and chair are holding any probable perspective. And yet, Cézanne creates a harmonious and lively ensemble. It’s not a static still life or “nature morte”; it’s a kitchen table that comes to life. Cézanne’s painting represents more truth than ever can be made visible on a real-life kitchen table. Cézanne creates the predecessor of VR, Virtual Reality.  In his lifetime, Cézanne was ridiculed for lack of conventional artistic skill; he did not paint like the others. But Cézanne said: “I shall astonish Paris with an apple”, what he does in this painting with apples, pears and melons.

Edouard Manet (1832 – 1883) “Le Citron” 1880, 14x22cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Le Citron by Manet, painted three years before his death, is in its seemingly simplicity one of the painter’s most powerful still lifes. Manet isolates this yellow fruit on a sober black ceramic saucer, making the fruit an important “thing”, with such bright colour and touching structure of the skin. Manet proves that less is more. Le Citron is a main character in the big world of Impressionist and Modern Art Painting.

Luis Egidio Meléndez (1716 – 1780) “Still Life with Watermelons and Apples in a Landscape” 1771, 63x84cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Luis Egidio Meléndez put his Watermelons against the backdrop of a stormy sky. Majestic, they dominate their environment. This still life was painted for the natural history cabinet of Charles de Bourbon, the Prince of Asturias and heir to the throne of Spain. The melons show such attractive freshness and a perfectionist realism that extends to even the smallest details like the fallen seeds, drops of juice and tiny bits of watermelon flesh. This painting is used for the poster of the Louvre exhibition “Things, a history of still life”. But is this a still life, is this nature morte? I dare to answer “no” and declare this painting a portrait, a portrait of two real life watermelons.

Sébastien Stoskopff (1597 – 1657) “Corbeille de verres et pâté, Basket with glasses and pâté” c.1635,  50x64cm, Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame, Musée de la Ville de Strasbourg, France.

Sébastien Stoskopff painted Basket with Glasses and Pâté, as if it’s the end of a meal when, according to German custom, the dishes are collected in a basket. The simplicity of the composition, the dark and empty background, accentuate the presence of all the things: glasses, the crust of the pâté, and the letter. The painting encourages reflection on the relationship between reality and appearance, on what art can do and how painters of everyday life made the materiality of things tangible.

Stoskopff was an painter from the Alsace, where German and French influences blend. He is one of the most important German still life painters, specializing in portraying goblets, cups and especially glasses. His works were only rediscovered after 1930 and can now be seen in some of the world’s most important art museums (MET, Louvre, KHM, Gemäldegalerie). His chief works hang in his hometown of Strasbourg.

Louise Moillon (1610 – 1696), “Coupe de cerises, prunes et melon, Bowl with cherries, plums and melon” c.1633, 48x65cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Louise Moillon, one of the most talented female painters of the 17th century, affirms her virtuoso here with this Bowl with Cherries, Plums and Melon. It’s perhaps Moillon’s most famous painting. The intense red of the cherries bursts against the dark green of the leaves, the blue touches of the plums and the orange-yellow of the melon. In this orderly and balanced composition, the painting invites us to calmly meditate on the simple beauty of things. We know of around twenty paintings by Moillon, three of which are kept in the Louvre. Louise married when she was 30, and basically did not paint anymore after her marriage. She became 86 years old. 

Anonymous, North Germany, “Nature morte aux bouteilles et aux livres, Still life with bottles and books” c.1500, Oil on Wood, 81x106cm, Museé Unterlinden Museum, Colmar.

This panel, a Trompe l’Oeil with Books and Bottles, is divided into two parts: a niche, where various objects are placed, and an upper part with two doors, one locked, the other ajar. The niche with bottles and books is like a rebus. The things represent clues about the owner of this work, and it all refers to the medical world: the books and the small ink bottle hanging above the red book refer to reading and writing, a bottle whose label reads “fur zanwe” (“for toothache”) shows that it contains medicine for toothache, a pot with ointments, a glass urinal, the medicine box, all indicate that the owner was a doctor or a barber. He commissioned this work to embed it as a panel in a piece of furniture in his interior in northern Germany. This “trompe-l’oeil”, a highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface, makes the things look real. The owner of this panel was most likely very pleased to use these “things” to trick the eye of his visitors.

Musée du Louvre, Paris, “Les choses — une histoire de la nature morte” or “Things — a history of still life”.  Until January 23, 2023.

The texts above are loosely based on the exhibition labels.

The San Diego Museum of Art

The San Diego Museum of Art

“Art of the Americas”

The San Diego Museum of Art has an eclectic collection, housed in a beautiful Spanish-style not-too-big building, located in San Diego’s Balboa Park. The Museum holds a broad collection of Arts of the Americas, Spanish old master paintings, Asian and European art. And oddly enough, one of the strongest collections of German Expressionism in the United States.

Francis Luis Mora (American, born Uruguay died New York, 1874 – 1940), “Morning News” (1912), 30x41cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Mora, known for his depiction of every day, features in this painting commuters riding close together on a streetcar, highlighting the increasing presence of women in the workplace at a time of rapid social and industrial change. Scenes of New York City, undergoing enormous transformation, blur through the window.

The original inspiration for a permanent public art gallery can be traced to the Panama-California International Exposition, held in Balboa Park during 1915–1916. The Exposition was organized to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal and to promote San Diego as a seaport. Among its numerous displays representing various industries and products was a prominent exhibition of fine arts featuring European old masters, American art, and works by California and San Diego artists. The public response to the art exhibition convinced civic leaders and prominent local artists that San Diego needed its own fine arts gallery and collection.

Guy Orlando Rose (American, 1867 – 1925), “Fisherman’s Cove, Laguna Beach” (c1918), 50x61cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Born in San Gabriel, on his father’s ranch, Rose studied at the California School of Design (now San Francisco Art Institute). He left for Paris in 1888, and soon joined the international artist colony in Giverny, home of Claude Monet. When Rose returned to California several years later in 1914, he was drawn to the scenery of La Jolla, Laguna Beach, and Carmel, painting the sun-drenched vistas in a vigorous and loose impressionistic style. Rose’s experience in France and his passion for the local scenery made him a central figure in the movement of California Impressionism. 

Planning for the new museum began in 1922. A prominent site on the north side of Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama was secured. As “The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego”, the museum officially opened its doors on February 28, 1926.

Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887 – 1986), “The White Trumpet Flower” (1932), 76x101cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Despite the influence of many established artists, O’Keeffe was able to develop her own distinctive response to modernism, separating herself from her contemporaries through her focused study of the natural world and, specifically, the copious canvases in which she presented flowers. She often enlarged flowers, making a single bloom dominate the entire pictorial space. In The White Trumpet Flower, O’Keeffe explores the beauty of nature and emphasizes formal qualities such as shape, color, and line. The independence O’Keeffe exuded in her paintings was reflected in her creative practice as she refined her artistic process and kept to a consistent regime. She stretched and primed her own canvases, kept cardboard squares of her favorite colors, which she typically used to select her color palette before beginning a work, and often visualized a work completely before she began painting.

The architect William Templeton Johnson (1877–1950) designed and constructed the new art gallery. The Spanish Colonial–style architecture from the 1915 Exposition suggested the style for Johnson’s design. Johnson however, went one step further and looked directly to sixteenth-century Spanish Renaissance models for inspiration. For the building’s exterior, they borrowed motifs from the Cathedral of Valladolid, Spain, and the façade of the University of Salamanca, Spain, while for the interior they adapted features of the Hospital de la Santa Cruz in Toledo, Spain. Also enhancing the façade with the addition of sculptural elements including life-sized sculptures of Spanish Old Master painters Velázquez, Murillo, and Zurbarán as well as heraldic devices and the coats-of-arms of Spain, the United States, California, and San Diego.

Juan Sánchez Cotán (Spanish, 1560 – 1627), “Still Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber” (1602), 69x84cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Still-life painting was virtually nonexistent in European art before the 1590s, and Juan Sánchez Cotán is among the first practitioners of the genre and this work is universally acclaimed as his masterpiece. Brilliantly executed, the painting is unflinching in its naturalism and simplicity. The mysterious serenity of the composition has led many to question the meaning or function of the image. For some, the work is an exercise in pure painting and a straightforward depiction of vegetables in a cold cellar. Others however, believe that the picture may have religious overtones, and that it should be understood as a celebration of God’s most humble creations. In support of the latter reading, it is often noted that Sánchez Cotán gave up his possessions and entered a Carthusian monastery in 1603.
Juan Manuel Hernández (Costa Rican, 1969), “Paisaje de Cachi” (2002), 80x100cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Hernández paints what he calls “the essence” of his native Costa Rica, currently the most biologically diverse area on the planet, in a deliberately historical and realistic style to evoke what may be lost if care is not taken for its fragile ecosystems.
Raphaelle Peale (American, 1774 – 1825), “Still-life with Peaches” (1816), 35x55cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Raised in Philadelphia, a center of American art, Peale preferred still life painting, even though he was an able portrait painter and portraits were more lucrative. Around 1812, Peale began to focus on still lifes, as his ill health interfered with his ability to interact with sitters. In fact, Peale was one of the first American painters to make the still life the focus of his oeuvre.

The San Diego Museum of Art
1450 El Prado
Balboa Park, San Diego, CA

Asparagus in Art

Asparagus in Art

The end of the traditional asparagus season is June 24th, which is the day of the Christian celebration of the nativity of John the Baptist. Asparagus, the “White Gold”, is nowadays available much longer, but traditionally it’s a real season-vegetable. In ancient Greece, asparagus was considered a plant with sacred and aphrodisiac virtues. Starting in the 16th century, asparagus was served in the royal courts of Europe and in the 17th century it was cultivated in France for Louis XIV who was, apparently, very fond of it. Only in the 18th century did the asparagus make its appearance on the local marketplace.

Adriaen Coorte (1660 – 1707), “Asparagus and red currants on a stone ledge” (c.1695), 34x24cm, Oil on Paper on Board, Auctioned Christies 2012, Private Collection.

Coorte produced small and modest still lifes. On this painting the asparagus, together with some red currants, contrast much with the larger sumptuous still live paintings that were fashionable in those days. Coorte painted on paper which was glued on board, opposed to the large oil on canvas or oil on panel pieces produced by his painter colleagues. Perhaps Coorte was more an amateur painter who had no studio space available and worked from home.

Jacob Foppens van Es (1596 – 1666), “Still Life with Fish, Asparagus, Artichokes, Cheese and Other Delicacies” (c.1631), 82x138cm, Oil on Canvas, Auctioned Sotheby’s 2011, Private Collection.

This grand still life by Jacob Foppens van Es is a painting where all the products are neatly displayed next to each other on a tabletop, as was the common way of displaying in the early days of still life painting. The two bundles of asparagus give it a bit of a frivolous touch. He belongs to the first generation of still life painters. Only later the arrangements become more artificially put together and food was painted together with flowers, animals, shells and various objects.

Jan Fijt (1611 – 1661), “Vase of Flowers and Two Bunches of Asparagus” (c.1650), 64x75cm, Oil on Canvas, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.

Jan Fyt, a painter from Flanders, travelled quite a bit and worked in Paris, Venice, and Rome. This still life is painted towards the end of his career when he was back in Antwerp and it’s in a remarkable style with free and loose brushstrokes. Almost with an impressionist touch.

Edouard Manet (1832–1883), “Bunch of Asparagus” (1880), 46x55cm, Oil on Canvas, Wallraf–Richartz Museum, Cologne, Germany.

Manet, a French painter and key figure in the transition from realism to impressionism, painted this rather big still live with asparagus in a free style, and shows with pleasure the beauty of such simple things like these asparagus on a marble table. It was painted for the French art collector Charles Ephrussi, who gave Manet 1000 francs for it, although Manet only asked for 800 as a purchase price. Manet then painted another much smaller piece with just one asparagus on the same marble tabletop. He sent that as a gift to Charles Ephrussi with a note: “There was one missing from your bunch”. Manet’s bunch of asparagus can be seen in Cologne, the one lonely asparagus is still in Paris.

Edouard Manet (1832-1883), “L’asperge” (1880), 17x22cm, Oil on Canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
Louise Moillon (1610 – 1696), “Still Life with a Basket of Fruit and a Bunch of Asparagus” (1630), 53x71cm, Oil on Panel, Art Institute Chicago.

Louise Moillon is considered one of the best still life painters of her times. About forty paintings remain, which were mostly bought by royalty and nobility. At the age of thirty she married and stopped painting. Louise Moillon’s Basket of Fruit and a Bunch of Asparagus is a composition of all seasons: cherries, grapes, plums and asparagus. All seasonal products, but on this still life painting they live together in a timeless harmony.

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594 – 1680)

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594 – 1680), “Still Life with a Roemer and Watch” (1629), 46x69cm, Oil on Panel, Mauritshuis, The Hague.

Let’s have Sunday brunch 17th Century style! And that’s best done with Willem Claesz. Heda, Dutch Golden Age painter from Haarlem, The Netherlands. He specialized in the genre of “banketjes” and “ontbijtjes” (banquets and breakfasts), and most of them in a monochrome manner. Not much known about his life, not even an exact date of birth or death. But his legacy can be seen in the important museums all over the world. Let’s have a closer look at the one from the National Gallery of Art in Washington. And let’s find the hidden message in what seemingly is just a banquet still life painting.

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594 – 1680), “Banquet Piece with Mince Pie” (1635), 107x111cm, Oil on Canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

This is the aftermath of a feast meal; a table filled with exotic food, luxurious tableware and precious glasses. The lemon and olives have been imported from the Mediterranean. The salt – expensive in those days – can been seen on a silver salt cellar. The mince pie, filled with meat and fruits and spices, is a dish for special occasions and on this painting has clearly been eaten already. A glass broke, the goblet fell over and the candle went out. But the message is shown exactly in the middle and in the front; it even sticks out of the painting right into our face. And that’s the piece of bread. The roll has not been touched. Bread in the Eucharistic meaning represents the body of Christ. Heda tells us that we should not overlook the Christian faith while being seduced by the pleasures and richness of food and earthly goods.

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594 – 1680), “Still Life with a Ham, Bread and Precious Vessels” (1654), 105x147cm, Oil on Canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

And here is another still life breakfast painting by Heda. It’s from the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. On the table a ham, lemon, oysters, the salt on the silver salt cellar, precious vessels, Venetian glass and even a “nautilus cup”, made of the nautilus shell imported from the Far East. This painting shows the wealth of a rich merchant from the Dutch Golden Age. But also here, on the left side of the table, is that very modest, untouched, lonely piece of bread. All the richness on one side of the table and on the other side, at that pure white clean tablecloth, the power of the Christian faith, symbolized by a simple bread roll. I guess the owners of these paintings, those rich merchants in the 17th Century, liked to show off their wealth and their taste for international and exotic treasures, but they also wanted to show how modest and down-to-earth they were. It’s true Calvinist behavior; almost as an excuse for wealth and success.