John McLeod

Vanitas

Patrick Nevin's (US based) "Vanitas with Marine Corps Coin" is an oil painting that depicts a human skull situated with an orange, a Marine Corps coin, ...

Crow Skull with bright colors

"Sweet & Sour, Bone & Flesh" (2023) by Destiny Bowman is an original, handmade oil painting on wood panel that depicts a still-life featuring animal skulls, plants, fruit, and a dise...

Matteo Di Ventra's "Bedside Skull" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a realistic human skull in profile with a black and purple backg...

Still life with Skull is a modern artwork realized by Albin Sattler (1927 Lauterbach, Czechoslovakia - 1998 Munich) in 20th Century. Mixed colored oil painting on canvas Includes f...

Catherine Jansens’ watercolour titled "Vanitas" is a compelling still life that delves into the theme of the transience of life and the inevitability of death—an idea traditionally e...

Artist: Pamela Schermer, American XXth Title: Vanitas Still Life Year: 1986 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and dated verso Size: 36 x 48 inches/ 91 x 122 cm

My paintings begin with a serious sense of play, both in the staging and the creating of the compositions. It is at this beginning stage that I operate under the Dadaist dictate that “anything can be art”, and at the same time I seek out a balanced and harmonious composition by way of line, shape, and color. I work according to my whimsy, sometimes seeking to assert some form of narrative however personal or ambiguous, and other times I am simply satisfied with the hint of a human presence. Once I have my compositions the paintings then very quickly become about work, a very labor intensive work that forces me to focus my mind and slow things down (which I feel is relevant especially in this day and age of high-speed everything). A great amount of effort is spent on trying to get to the highest level of finish that is possible according to my current skill level. For inspiration I have drawn from the past four centuries of object specific paintings, from the ontbijtjes (laid tables) of the 17th Century Dutch masters such as Willem Kalf, Jan Davidsz de Heem, Abraham van Beijeren...