Still Life

Still life is the depiction of natural objects or inanimate objects made by the human hand. The fabled origins of still life painting can be traced back to Ancient Greece, where the artist Zeuxis developed a convincing form of painting. Using paint to render the illusion of a three-dimensional form, Zeuxis painted a bunch of grapes so realistic that birds flew down to take a nibble.

The emergence of still life as a genre of art occurred across Italy, Spain, Flanders and the Netherlands towards the end of the sixteenth century, with the pinnacle of still life accomplishments often considered to have been reached in seventeenth-century Dutch painting. Although artists in earlier centuries had depicted inanimate objects as part of frescoes, portraits or historic tableaux, it was during the late Renaissance that still life became a subject in its own right.

Over the following centuries still life evolved as a symbolic genre to be read for its allegorical message. In particular, it became emblematic of vanitas – the brevity and frailty of human life. Flowers, fruits, candles, skulls, feathers and even musical instruments were arranged as reminders of mortality and the impermanence of life. Still life also played a key role during the modernist movement, specifically during cubism.

  • Using various folds of fabric, create a still life. Drape the fabric over objects or people and adjust the lighting to create dynamic shadows and strong contrasts of light and dark. Spend time observing the contours of the material and use a viewfinder to draw a small section of this scene, paying close attention to re-creating the tonal contrasts. Join the drawings and display as one unified piece.
  • Create a mobile using everyday objects (forks, cups, spoons etc). Make sure it can move. Shine a light onto your mobile and draw what you see.
  • Collect different objects from around your classroom or home, for example, teddies, toys, saucepans, jugs, cups etc. Draw these objects. Now place a tablecloth or sheet over the objects. How does their form change? Draw the objects as they appear through the cloth.

In the Gallery

Select a work of art and identify an object within it. (The chosen work of art should remain a secret).

  • Recreate this object using your whole body.
  • Present your object pose to the group. Can the rest of the class guess the object and the work of art it came from?

Take photos of the artworks students respond to. These can be used later in the classroom to extend learning.

Teacher Tip: Before beginning, remind students to stay aware of their surroundings. Encourage careful movement, looking out for other people, artworks, and objects in the space.

In the Classroom

Develop your object pose using simple choreographic devices:

  • Shift or rotate the shape
  • Lower or lift the shape

Explore the following:

  • Manipulate the object shape as you move through space
  • Recreate the object in a new way using your body
  • Repeat and refine the movement, shifting and travelling through space

Composition Task

  1. Create two different movements based on your object.
  2. Link the two movements together.
  3. Use this sequence to travel across the room, adapting your movement as you go.

Modern artists perpetually aspired to originality and innovation, urging themselves and each other forward on a quest for new aesthetics, new methods and new theories. In this context, the Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro stated, ‘Don’t bother trying to look for something new: you won’t find novelty in the subject matter, but in the way you express it’; that is, the answer did not necessarily lie in new subjects. Artists largely incorporated the familiar objects, structures and sites of their everyday lives into their work in their efforts to investigate new ideas. Despite being considered a ‘lesser’ genre in the hierarchies of Western art, by the twentieth century still life painting remained an important site for artists to interrogate new ideas. Mundane objects and settings became a springboard for new approaches to painting; Georges Braque, one of the founders of Cubism, notably began investigations with colour, form and pattern in a series of still lifes.

Text by Tansy Curtin, Assistant Director, Artistic and Collection Programs, Catalogue for Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition

Artist Resources