Still life artists biography page

Articles and features

With the earliest known examples existing amongst frescoes uncovered at Pompeii, the still life has been a staple of artistic production for centuries. Derived from the Flemish ‘stillleven’ during the Dutch Golden Age of the mid Seventeenth century the genre was practised at that time to show the surge in cultural and economic prominence of the burgeoning mercantile nation. Still life painting flowered as a means to show the achievements, but also transience, of ordinary human life. The genre also enabled artists to demonstrate their virtuosity in the depiction of finely crafted goods, which were increasingly emblematic of the emergent middle class’ lifestyle. The still life, also called ‘nature morte’ in French has also been used as a vanitas device – a means to sho