Still-life Paintings
Still-life Paintings For Sale
Color: Beige
"Quadracolored Bottles" Original Gary John Colorful Pop Artwork on Poster Board
By Gary John
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles street artist Gary John exploded onto the international art scene first during Art Basel Miami in 2013. John’s playfully bold work quickly gained attention and he was nam...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Board
Eating Animals (Eggplant Penguin) absurdist animal painting on shaped panel
By Lori Larusso
Located in New York, NY
Lori Larusso explores humans' paradoxical relationships with the animals that exist closest to us. From pets to synanthropes (non-domesticated animals tha...
Category
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Panel
"Compelling, " Oil Painting
By Mia Bergeron
Located in Denver, CO
Mia Bergeron's (US based) "Compelling" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a birthday cake with white and blue frosting on a white table surrounded with white, green, ...
Category
2010s Realist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Leo and Leonline
Located in Deddington, GB
Leo and Leonline by Lucie Sheridan [2021]
original
Acrylic on Canvas
Image size: H:50.8 cm x W:40.8 cm
Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:50.8 cm x W:40.8 cm x D:1.8cm
Sold Unfram...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Castilleja cruenta standl
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A painting by Penelope Gottlieb. "Castilleja cruenta standl" is a contemporary painting, ink, acrylic and oil on canvas panel in a variety of bright, bold colors by American artist Penelope Gottlieb.
After receiving her BFA from the Art Center College for Design in Pasadena, Penelope Gottlieb went on to earn her MFA from the University of California in Santa Barbara where she currently lives and works. Gottlieb’s artistic repertoire is thoroughly modern and includes innovative paintings as well as compelling media design, for which she received an Emmy in the field of motion picture title design in 1993.
Gottlieb’s more recent works showcase a unique synthesis of her modern graphic design background and the vintage botanical renderings of natural scientists. However, her paintings are also unique in their perspective on the traditional floral still life. Stylized flora and fauna are depicted as emanating from a comic book explosion, illustrating what the artist refers to as “the dire state of the planet” as faced with species extinction and the resulting biological and ecological ramifications. These violent representations of the artistically typified placid natural world are intended as “visual eulogies for lost plant life.” The particular specimens that Gottlieb depicts are in fact extinct and she is able to recreate them only from historical drawings and botanist’s descriptions.
Although avant-garde and aesthetically unique, Gottlieb’s paintings delineate clear influences from the renowned artists of Pop and Expressionist art. The composition of many of her paintings is reminiscent of Kandinsky’s canvas-filling outpours while her bold color palette and black outlines recall Lichtenstein’s comic book panels. Her work is also closely related to a more contemporary group of artists, including Alexis Rockman...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Ink, Oil, Acrylic, Panel
Still life with a red book, oil painting by Pierre Coquet
Located in Montfort l’Amaury, FR
Pierre Coquet (1926-2021)
Still life with a red book
Reference number F285
46 x 55 cm (not framed)
This work is painted with oil on a canvas. There is a stamp of the signature in the...
Category
1990s French School Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Still Life - Oil on board - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Still Life is an original modern artwork realized by an Unknown Artist in the mid-20th Century.
A mixed colored oil on board.
Hand signed on the lower left margin J. Meamier.
Incl...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Meditation: Sage, Newburgh, NY, 2020
Located in Hudson, NY
ABOUT
Erica Hauser is a Newburgh, NY based artist and has a BFA from the School of Visual Arts (2002). She received a 2011 NYFA grant, and has attended ar...
Category
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Christmas Roses, Original Still Life Painting, 2014
Located in Boston, MA
Artist Commentary:
This is an original watercolor on canvas floral still life painting, 16 x 20 inches.
Keywords: Flowers, happy, fresh, watercolor, roses, Christmas, bouquet, still...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Canvas
Happy Painting
Located in Fairfield, CT
George Billis Gallery presents Stephanie Reiter.
Painting for me is about capturing the light and beauty of the day. Usually a landscape will hit me and say, “paint me”. Then I know I must capture it. My reactions and interpretations combined with the right pigments and line express the natural beauty I am experiencing.
What Cezanne called “petite sensations”, the little feeling you get from being alive...
Category
2010s Realist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Still Life - Acrylic Painting on Canson Paper by C. Dechezelle - 1970s
Located in Roma, IT
Still Life is an original artwork realized by Claude Dechezelle in the 1970s.
Acrylic painting on Canson paper.
Hand-signed by the artist on lower right.
This beautiful compositi...
Category
1970s Still-life Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Paper
Portrait of a Lady
Located in Burlingame, CA
Collection of an array of items that epitomize beauty, this still life painting celebrates romance and joie de vivre, by Elizabeth Barlow, who meticulously creates oil "portraits" that feature still life objects to represent the essence of her subject. In this case the artist depicts the concept of "beauty" through the placement of various beloved items and their shadow as a "portrait" of a lady...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Bright & Colorful French Impressionist Oil Painting - Flowers & Fruit
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Maggy Clarysse (1931-2011)
oil on canvas, unframed
16 x 20inches
signed front
condition: excellent
provenance: all the paintings we have by this artist have come from the artists es...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Gyotaku X Abstract Expressionism
By Justin Lyons
Located in Atlanta, GA
Justin Lyons, "Gyotaku X Abstract Expressionism" 2020, Mixed media on canvas.
Category
2010s Still-life Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media
20th Century Oil - Three Flower Vases
Located in Corsham, GB
A captivating oil painting, depicting a still life composition with three flower vases. Unsigned. Well-presented in a painted green-grey frame. On canvas on stretchers.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Sliders, Oil Painting
By Pat Doherty
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
"Three sliders fully loaded with cheddar cheese, red onion, lettuce, and tomato, and garnished with pickles and cherry tomatoes on top!" exclaims artist Pat Doh...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Violets, true blue
Located in La Canada Flintridge, CA
Oil on canvas board signed lower left.
Category
2010s Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Sweet Favorites, Oil Painting
By Pat Doherty
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A summer berry shortcake, colorful macarons and a cheesecake displayed on pedestal plates arranged on a blue striped tablecloth. Pat Doherty's delectable oil ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Still life with peppers, oil painting by Pierre Coquet
Located in Montfort l’Amaury, FR
Pierre Coquet - Still life with peppers
Reference number F48
Framed with a natural oak floated frame
43 x 61 cm frame included (38 x 56 cm without frame)
This wor...
Category
1990s French School Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Wilis in Rhineland, Mixed media painting on Awagami paper
By On Hansen
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Wilis in Rhineland, 2022 by On Hansen
Oil wax, acrylic, graphite, organic ink, and crayon on Awagami paper
Image size: 35.03 in. H x 25.59 in. W
Unique
Unframed
___________________...
Category
2010s Minimalist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Crayon, Ink, Wax, Acrylic, Handmade Paper, Graphite
Coffee Peloton XXXI
Located in Deddington, GB
Coffee Peloton XXXI by Eliza Southwood [2022]
original
Coffee on Paper
Image size: H:59.5 cm x W:42.5 cm
Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:59.5 cm x ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Coffee, Paper
Dry flowers from my Mother's garden
Located in Stamford, CT
These paintings are still-life of dry flowers from my mother’s garden. I got this work from her idea to collect seeds from suddenly drying flowers and use...
Category
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Gesso, Watercolor, Pencil, Tea
Cherry on Top, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Artist McGarren Flack focuses on a single cherry cupcake on a solid white background. “Who doesn't like sweets?†asks McGarren. In his Sweets series, he dra...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Adrian Parnell, Still life of buttercups
Located in Harkstead, GB
Adrian Parnell (b.1952)
Buttercups,
Signed with initials,
Inscribed with title and date verso
Oil on board,
18 x 24 inches
A delicate and subtly captured study of buttercups.
Adri...
Category
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Still Life Tabletop with Fruit
Located in Surfside, FL
This is a bright, colorful oil painting of a table top with fruit. Banana, Pomegranate and glass of water.
George Chemeche was born in Israel in 1934 and studied at the Avni Art School in Tel Aviv and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. this painter and printmaker's sensual and romantic yet rationally conceived screen prints featuring plants and flowers are associated with the PATTERN & DECORATION movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
His style is non-minimalist, sensuous, romantic, rational and decorative. it runs counter to the modernist taboo against a decorative quality in art. Though pattern painting's roots are in modern art, it contradicts some of its basic tenets as it attempts to assimilate aspects of Western and non-Western culture not previously accepted into the realm of high art. In Chemeche´s work, we can see how chosen motifs are repeated in order to cover a surface in a uniform way. The results often have a painterly feel, but remain systematic. The intention is to make a high-art statement within a contemporary context by referring to, and using what to many still remains within the world of non-art. Pattern painting, unlike abstractionism, has structure. It also has content as it refers to patterns in the real world. Usually, patterning intentionally acknowledges the decorative function of art, reconciling both the decorative and the meaningful.
INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS:
Goldman Art Gallery, Haifa, Israel
Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, "Six Artists"
Biv Gallery, New York, "Chelsea Artists"
Makler Gallery, Philadelphia, Pa.
"FJ.A.C.," Petit Palais Paris Galerie Naire, Paris
Weintraub Gallery, New York, Print Show
Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York
Alexandra Monett Gallery, Brussels
Givon Art GaJIery, Tel Aviv
South Houston Gallery, New York
Ray Landis Gallery, East Brunswick, New Jersey
Gala Gallery, Key Biscayne, Florida
Art Asia Gallery, Cambridge, Mass.
Bertha Urdang Gallery, New York
Selected Artists Gallery, New York
Mabat Art Gallery, Tel Aviv
Goldman Art Gallery, Haifa, Israel
OHana Gallery, London
"Six Artists", Modern Art Gallery, Old Jaffa
Modern Art Gallery, Old Jaffa
The Autumn Exhibition, Tel Aviv Museum
Dugith Art Gallery, Tel Aviv
Hadassa "K" Klachkin Art Gallery, Tel Aviv
Rina Art Gallery, Jerusalem The Museum of Modern Art, Haifa
Chemerinsky Art Gallery, Tel Aviv
Galerie Transposition, Paris Collective Exhibitions
"Young Artists", Tel Aviv Museum
Salon de La Jeune Peinture, Musee d'art Moderne, Paris
A well listed Painter...
Category
1960s Expressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
The Italian Plate
Located in Boston, MA
Artist Commentary:
I love Deruta Italian pottery and this summer brought together the fruits of the season to celebrate summer in a watercolor.
Keywords: lemons, Italy, Deruta, frui...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Sprite and Anemone (Whimsical Oil Painting of Winged Create in Pink Flowers)
Located in Hudson, NY
Sprite and Anemone (Contemporary Oil Painting of Whimsical Winged Creature Emerging from Pink Flowers) by David Konigsberg
oil on panel
55 x 44 x 1.5 inches
no frame required - paint...
Category
2010s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Coffee Peloton XXXII
Located in Deddington, GB
Coffee Peloton XXXIII by Eliza Southwood [2022]
original
Coffee on Paper
Image size: H:59.5 cm x W:42.5 cm
Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:59.5 cm ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Paper, Coffee
Daffodils
Located in Boston, MA
Artist Commentary:
This is an original acrylic on canvas floral still life painting.
Keywords: daffodils, flowers, still life, purple, yellow
Artist Biography:
Born and raised in ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
The Victorious, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Artist Jose H. Alvarenga paints a tribute to action-adventure movies in classical impressionism. He pictures the hero of the film, a plastic toy soldier...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Daffodils", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dianne L. Massey Dunbar's (US based) "Daffodils" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a bouquet of yellow daffodils with a white background.
About the artist:
When Dianne Massey...
Category
2010s Realist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
"Distant House" Oil Painting by Kevin Knopp in artist created frame
By Kevin Knopp
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Distant House" is an original oil painting by the Wisconsin-based artist Kevin Knopp. Known for his lyrical landscapes and sensitive still life, influenced by what the artist calls,...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Vintage Bike, Original Painting
By Kira Yustak
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Artist Kira Yustak depicts a shiny red bicycle inspired by a love of vintage items and toys from childhood. "They bring back so many fond memories and emotions," says Kira. "That feeling of freedom when riding a bike as a child is so very wonderful and exciting!"
About the Artist
Kira Yustak paints fantastical scenes that come from her childhood memories, dreams, and the natural world. Each piece feels like part of a larger narrative of an alternative reality, rendered in a style she describes as comic realism. She feels art must trigger something inside the viewer’s soul.Kira currently lives in New Jersey and finds inspiration in the work of Lowbrow, Folk, and Surrealist artists.
Words that describe this painting: bike, bicycle, vintage, toy, still life, childhood, memories, impressionism, impressionism, still life, acrylic painting, yellow
Vintage Bike...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Still Life with Fruit & Flowers
By André Gisson
Located in Milford, NH
A fine still life painting with fruit and flowers by André (Gittleson) Gisson (1921-2003). Gisson, born Anders Gittleson in Brooklyn, NY, graduate...
Category
Mid-20th Century Realist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
REDOUTE, Pierre Joseph. Rosa Parvi-Flora.
Located in London, GB
A Gift from King Charles X to the Duchesse de Berry
REDOUTE, Pierre Joseph.
Rosa parvi-flora.
Watercolour over traces of black chalk on vellum, within gold framing lines; signed in...
Category
1820s Naturalistic Still-life Paintings
Materials
Chalk, Ink, Watercolor, Pen
"Bowl of Pears, " Large Acrylic Painting on Canvas by Charles Wildbank
Located in Long Island City, NY
This acrylic painting was created in a photorealistic style by American artist Charles Wildbank. It measures 48 x 60 inches and is signed in the lower left hand corner. It is in exce...
Category
1990s Photorealist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Canvas
Mid Century Crystal and Glass Still Life
Located in Soquel, CA
Gorgeous midcentury painting of crystal decanter and clear glass vessels against a vivid orange backdrop by Donald Werden (American, b. 1921). Signed and...
Category
1960s Realist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
む, Unique work on paper. Mixed media painting on Awagami paper
By On Hansen
Located in Miami Beach, FL
む, 2022 by On Hansen
Oil wax, acrylic, graphite, organic ink, and crayon on Awagami paper
Image size: 35.03 in. H x 25.59 in. W
Unique
Unframed
___________...
Category
2010s Minimalist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Crayon, Ink, Wax, Acrylic, Handmade Paper, Graphite
Picnic - One of a Kind Still Life Watercolor Figurative Painting, 2021
Located in Bal Harbour, FL
Immerse yourself in the delectable world of “Picnic,” a captivating fine art figurative watercolor painting that showcases a sumptuous still life picnic of fruits. This exquisite piece brings together the vibrant colors and textures of a half-cut papaya, grapefruit, green grapes, and pears arranged enticingly on a cozy blanket...
Category
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Cotton, Watercolor, Archival Paper
Square, Circle and Triangle Tiles in Pink and Yellow, Floating Geometry on Paper
Located in Barcelona, ES
This series of hand painted acrylic paintings by Natalia Roman are inspired by the colors and textures of Italian terrazzo tiling. The patterns created combine a variety of vivid col...
Category
2010s Abstract Geometric Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel, Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Gouache
Sydney Licht "Still Life with Strawflowers" - Contemporary Oil Painting on Linen
By Sydney Licht
Located in New York, NY
Sydney Licht
Still Life with Strawflowers, 2022
oil on linen
16 x 13 in.
(lich206)
Sydney Licht’s still-life subjects are not merely quotidian, household objects, but the packaging,...
Category
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Roger Bliss - 20th Century Oil, Still Life with Fruit and Wine
By Roger Bliss
Located in Corsham, GB
This dynamic painting incorporates a neutral palette and expressive brushstrokes to create a fresh still life scene. In a masterful hand the artist has captured the intricate folds o...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Bright & Colorful French Impressionist Oil Painting - Pink Roses
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Maggy Clarysse (1931-2011)
oil on canvas, unframed
16 x 20 inches
signed front
condition: excellent
provenance: all the paintings we have by this artist have come from the artists es...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Fine Antique British Botannical Watercolour Painting, circa 1900's
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
A very fine original antique English botanical watercolour painting depicting this beautiful depiction of a flower/ plant. The work came to us from a private collection in Surrey, En...
Category
Early 20th Century Victorian Still-life Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Security Breach 2
By Justin Lyons
Located in Atlanta, GA
Justin Lyons, "Security Breach 2" 2022, Mixed media on canvas.
Category
2010s Still-life Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media
Remembering How Things Could Be, black, white, and yellow painting of a sailboat
Located in New York, NY
Charles Buckley sources images from the fifties and using acrylic ink, carefully renders familiar scenes of the everyday with lines of varying thicknesses. The subjects run the gamut...
Category
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Ink, Paper
"Dried Flowers in Raku Vase", Oil painting by Kevin Knopp in artist made frame
By Kevin Knopp
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Dried Flowers in Raku Vase" is an original oil painting by the Wisconsin-based artist Kevin Knopp. Known for his lyrical landscapes and sensitive still life, influenced by what the ...
Category
2010s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Bloomtime, Oil Painting
By Kajal Zaveri
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Artist Kajal Zaveri presents a heavily textured meadow filled with red and orange blooms. "I was inspired by the bounty of wildflowers sprouting up at so many p...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Fine Antique British Botannical Watercolour Painting, circa 1900's
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
A very fine original antique English botanical watercolour painting depicting this beautiful depiction of a flower/ plant. The work came to us from a private collection in Surrey, En...
Category
Early 20th Century Victorian Still-life Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Divine Fruit
Located in Atlanta, GA
This painting is in excellent condition and has only been shown in a gallery setting.
Jesús Navarro was born in Jerez, (Cadiz), located in southern Spain, in 1952. By the age of tw...
Category
2010s Photorealist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Untitled (Abstract Garden Still Life with Flowers and Plants)
By Ian Hornak
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002)
Title: Untitled (Abstract Garden Still Life with Flowers and Plants)
Year: 1963
Medium: Watercolor on heavy archival ...
Category
1960s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
"Dried Flowers in Porcelain Vase", Oil painting by Kevin Knopp in artist's frame
By Kevin Knopp
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Dried Flowers in Porcelain Vase" is an original oil painting by the Wisconsin-based artist Kevin Knopp. Known for his lyrical landscapes and sens...
Category
2010s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
'Flower Dancer' original oil on wood painting signed by Robert Richter
Located in Milwaukee, WI
In 'Flower Dancer,' Robert Richter presents the viewer with a closely cropped image of a canna lily. Whereas many of his paintings use deep and richly saturated color, here he treats...
Category
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Solo, Abstract Painting on Paper from the Chaleco Quimico series
By Sergio Bazan
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Solo, 2006 by Sergio Bazan
From the Chaleco Quimico series
Acrylic paint on paper
Image Size: 18 H x 25 W inches
Signed by artist
_______
The paintings of Sergio Bazán have a stro...
Category
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Paper
Bouquet by Alexandre GOH - Watercolor on paper 62x45 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Beige wooden frame with glass pane
85 x 67 x 2,5 cm
Category
1910s Art Deco Still-life Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Pen, Gouache, Acrylic
E. Gert Fruit Still Life Painting w/Pitcher & Candelabra
By Edith Gert
Located in San Francisco, CA
Beautiful fruit still life painting w/pitcher & candelabra by Danish artist Edith Gert (1906-1983)
Category
20th Century Expressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Festooned
By Delna Dastur
Located in Boston, MA
Artist Commentary:
The plants are having a field day scrambling all over the city, displaying Nature's power over man made buildings.
Keywords: plants, nature, cityscape, joyous
Ar...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Strawberries, Original oil Painting, Ready to Hang
Located in Granada Hills, CA
Artist: Vahe Yeremyan
Work: Original Oil Painting, Handmade Artwork, One of a Kind
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Year: 2022
Style: Impressionism,
Subject: Strawberries,
Size: 9.5" x 17" ...
Category
2010s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Shop Still-Life Paintings on 1stDibs
Still-life paintings work as part of the decor in nearly every type of space.
Still-life art, which includes work produced in media such as painting, photography, video and more, is a popular genre in Western art. However, the depiction of still life in color goes back to Ancient Egypt, where paintings on the interior walls of tombs portrayed the objects — such as food — that a person would take into the afterlife. Ancient Greek and Roman mosaics and pottery also often depicted food. Indeed, still-life paintings frequently feature food, flowers or man-made objects. By definition, still-life art represents anything that is considered inanimate.
During the Middle Ages, the still life genre was adapted by artists who illustrated religious manuscripts. A common theme of these paintings is the reminder that life is fleeting. This is especially true of vanitas, a kind of still life with roots in the Netherlands during the 17th century, which was built on themes such as death and decay and featured skulls and objects such as rotten fruit. In northern Europe during the 1600s, painters consulted botanical texts to accurately depict the flowers and plants that were the subject of their work.
Leonardo da Vinci’s penchant for observing phenomena in nature and filling notebooks with drawings and notes helped him improve as an artist of still-life paintings. Vincent van Gogh, an artist who made a couple of the most expensive paintings ever sold, carried out rich experiments with color over the course of painting hundreds of still lifes, and we can argue that Campbell’s Soup Cans (1961–62) by Andy Warhol counts as still-life art.
While early examples were primarily figurative, you can find still lifes that belong to different schools and styles of painting, such as Cubism, Impressionism and contemporary art.
As part of the wall decor in your living room, dining room or elsewhere, a still-life painting can look sophisticated alongside your well-curated decorative objects and can help set the mood in a space.
When shopping for a still-life painting, think about how it makes you feel and how the artist chose to represent its subject. When buying any art for your home, choose pieces that you connect with. If you’re shopping online, read the description of the work to learn about the artist and check the price and shipping information. Make sure that the works you choose complement or relate to your overall theme and furniture style. Artwork can either fit into your room’s color scheme or serve as an accent piece. Introduce new textures to a space by choosing an oil still-life painting.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of still-life paintings in a wide range of styles and subject matter.