Basically, still life, if we talk about literal translation from the French language, has two roots and means "dead nature". Although, in fairness, it is worth noting that the language does not dare to call all this juicy, vivid magnificence such a phrase. But fact is fact.
The fact that such a still life was known in ancient Greece. Already in the writings of Pliny there is a description of the painting of Zeuskis, which depicts a brush of grapes. During the excavations of Pompeii, many images of this genre were also found. Later, the still life will go into the shadows, and portraits and iconography will come first.
If we talk about what a still life is in the classical understanding of this genre, then first of all it must be said that this is a kind of fine art (in particular, easel painting) that conveys the features of inanimate objects that are placed in a single environment and are combined into a group. It is this group organization that is the main condition for still life, it distinguishes it from portraits, landscapes and battle paintings.
The relevance of still life to easel painting is determined by the organization of the motive, or, in another way, by the setting, without which the drawing will not be perceived whole. The assertion that this genre consists in depicting only edible and inanimate objects is incorrect. Although, at first glance, what is a still life without them? But the picture may also contain images of people, animals, landscape elements. True, they act as additional motives.
Our ideas about what a still life is will be incomplete if we keep silent about its varieties. Depending on what is the basis of differentiation, several types are distinguished:
- The plot component of the picture allows us to single out still lifes (single-image (image of objects of one kind, for example, only fruits), mixed (objects of different types - vegetables, dishes, flowers) and plot (images of people, inclusion of landscape elements).
- The color of the image involves the division into warm (the predominance of yellow, orange, red shades) and cold (blue, green, purple) varieties.
- At the location there are still lifes in the interior and landscape.
- The time category is embodied in short-term (ordinary drafts) and long-term (many-hour staging) images.
- Depending on the task of the artist, it is possible to distinguish realistic (objects are reproduced as accurately as possible) and decorative (image in the form of lines, figures, using the application method) paintings.
But still, the most important criterion is the image technique - watercolor, pencil, oil, pastel.
Watercolor still lifes are transparent and airy, the colors in them are blurry, color transitions are carried out imperceptibly. This technique, despite its apparent lightness, is very complex, since corrections in the figure are almost impossible. But on the other hand, this is the best technique for transmitting the elusiveness of the moment with all its static, as well as the emotional state of the artist.
Oil still lifes, as a rule, are multilayered; they convey the volume of the depicted objects, create the illusion of space.
Regardless of the writing technique, such paintings will successfully decorate not only the interior of the living room, but also any gallery. Our love of beauty is impossible without admiring still lifes.