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Still-life Paintings For Sale
Period: 1950s
Period: 18th Century and Earlier
This Week's Listings Only
Mid Century Watercolor Still Life -- "A Basket of Cherries"
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful mid century watercolor of cherries and cherry tree branch in basket by V. R. Leighton (American, 20th Century), circa 1950. Signed lower right. Presented in new mat under g...
Category
1950s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Still Life Musical Instruments Bettera Paint 17/18rt Century Oil on canvas Art
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Bonaventura Bettera (Bergamo, 1663 - documented until 1718)
Still Life with Musical Instruments (LINK)
Oil on canvas
90 x 116 cm - Framed 105 x 131 cm.
The merit of the 17th centur...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
'Summer Bouquet', Society of Western Artists, De Young Museum, Oakland Museum
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left, 'Clifford Holmes' (American, 1876-1963) and created circa 1955. Titled, verso, 'Mixed Bouquet' and inscribed with artist's Hayward, California address.
The descendant of a pioneer California family, Clifford Holmes first studied at the University of Redlands and, subsequently, at San Francisco State. He later traveled and studied in Europe. Holmes painted in a wide variety of media including oil, watercolor and pastel and his favored subjects included portraits, landscapes and still-lives. Over the course of a long career, he exhibited widely and with success including at the Society of Western Artists, the American Artist's Professional League, the De Young...
Category
1950s Modern Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Still Life with Flowers, Fruit and Pumpkins, XVIIth - XVIIIth century
Located in Milan, IT
Oil painting on canvas. Lombard school of the late 17th-early 18th century. The rich composition offers a large bouquet of colorful flowers in an embossed vase, next to two large pumpkins and mixed fruit (grapes and peaches...
Category
Late 17th Century Other Art Style Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Painting Still Life with Flowers and Fruit 17th-18th century
Located in Milan, IT
Oil on Canvas. Italian school of the 17th-18th centuries.
A large composition of colorful flowers in embossed metal vases and some fruits scattered on the ground are placed against a...
Category
Late 17th Century Other Art Style Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Still-Life Flower Von Tamm 17/18th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master Italy
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Franz Werner Von Tamm known as Monsieur Daparait (Hamburg 1658-Vienna 1754) Attributed to
Still life of fruit with lizard
Oil on canvas,
58 x 74 cm.
Framed 76 x 92 cm.
This magnifi...
Category
Early 17th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Still Life Of A Book Featuring A "Monastic Ode", 18th Century
Located in Blackwater, GB
Still Life Of A Book Featuring A "Monastic Ode", 18th Century
English School - Unique Still Life - Signed W. J.
Fine large 18th Century English still life study of an opened book l...
Category
18th Century Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Painting Flemish school 17th century Oil canvas Still life fishes blueberries
Located in PARIS, FR
Flemish school of the 17th century Oil on canvas 52 x 60 cm (66 x 76 cm with the frame) Very beautiful old frame in gilded wood Good condition (a few repaints and craquelures)
The style of our painting reminds the first period of Flemish still life of the 17th century, very descriptive and meticulous. We think of painters such as Osias Beert, Jacob van Es and Clara Peeters...
Category
17th Century Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
17th Century by Panfilo Nuvolone Still Life Oil on Slate
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Panfilo Nuvolone (Cremona, Italy, 1581 - Milan, Italy, 1651)
Title: Still life
Medium: Oil on slate
Dimensions: without frame cm. 17 x 19.5 - with frame cm. 31.5 x 37.5
Expertise by...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Slate
Mid Century Fuji Apples Still Life with Plaid Cloth
Located in Soquel, CA
Beautiful oil painting of a basket of Fuji apples with a plaid cloth hanging behind by Helen Gleiforst (American, 1903-1997). Signed "Gleiforst" lower right. Unframed. Image, 24"H x ...
Category
1950s Fauvist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Masonite, Oil
Painting 18th Century Vanitas Still Life Skull Religion Esotericism Occult
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Vanitas 18th century
French School
Oil on canvas
Old frame gilded with gold leaves
Dim canvas : 73 X 60 cm
Dim frame : 93 X 80 cm
Certificate of authenticity
Category
Late 18th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Antique American Modernist Abstract Flower Still Life Outsider Art Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist oil painting. Oil on board, circa 1950. Housed in a vintage frame. Image size, 16L x 11H. Signed.
Category
1950s Modern Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Mushrooms. 1954, oil on canvas and cardboard, 31x40.5 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Olģerts Saldavs (1907.29.VII – 1960.1.IV) - Painter, art scholar.
Studied in the studio of U. Skulme, later of K. Miesnieks and L. Liberts (1926). In 1936, he graduated from the V. ...
Category
1950s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
'Still Life of Fruit and a Creamware Jug',
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Esther Lyne' (American, 20th century) and painted circa 1955.
A sensitively painted Post-Impressionist oil still-life showing a view of a hand-painted creamware jug...
Category
1950s Modern Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Masonite, Oil
17th Century Still Life Niccolò Stanchi Flowers Oil on Canvas Red Pink White
Located in Sanremo, IT
Painting oil on canvas measuring 67 x 45 cm without frame and 82 x 60 depicting a vase of flowers by the painter Niccolò Stanchi ( Rome 1626 - 1690 ).
The Stanchi brothers (Giovanni...
Category
1670s Italian School Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
17th c. Flemish, Still life with birds and raisins, workshop of Frans Snyders
Located in PARIS, FR
STILL LIFE WITH BIRDS AND RAISINS, WORKSHOP OF FRANS SNYDERS (1579-1657)
An exquisite and attractive work, our painting with its rich and harmonious composition is one of the remarkable examples of the passion of art lovers of the 17th century for still lifes, the genre in full ferment in Antwerp in early 17th century, long before its arrival to Paris in the 1630s & 40s.
Our painting presents on an entablature covered with wine-colored velvet cloth, various objects in an artistic arrangement which is intended to be spontaneous.
The tight framing, like an extract and the piled up objects suggest a plenitude and an infinite richness of what nature can offer and reinforce the feeling of prosperity.
The wicker basket overflowing with translucent bunches of grapes in green and purplish hues with icy reflections dominates the right side of the painting.
In the center is the game birds, partridge, snipe, sparrow, pincon and others, each bird with a fine and precise design, transparent plumage, the meticulous rendering of the different beak or leg parts, zebrures and streaks of the down.
On the left, two stacked white and blue Chinese...
Category
Mid-17th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Mid Century Roses with Blue Vase Still Life
By Virgi Cokelberghs
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful still life of roses by Virginie (Virgi) Cokelberghs (Belgian, 1893-1967). Presented in a giltwood frame. Signed "Virgi Cokelberghs" lower right. Image size, 23.5"H x 19.25"W.
Studied with Constant Montald...
Category
1950s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Flower Garland Virgin Paint Oil on canvas Old master 17th Century Italy
By Giovanni Stanchi
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Giovanni Stanchi (Rome 1608 - 1675) or Niccolò Stanchi (Rome 1623 - 1690), workshop of
GARLAND OF FLOWERS WITH PORTRAIT OF THE VIRGIN
Rome, First half of the Seventeenth century
o...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Still life Of Flowers In A Classical Urn, 18th Century
Located in Blackwater, GB
Still life Of Flowers In A Classical Urn, 18th Century
Dutch School
Huge 18th Century Dutch School Old Master Still Life of flowers...
Category
18th Century Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Still Life, 17th Century Oil on Panel Painting
Located in London, GB
Oil on panel, monogrammed mid left
Image size: 15 x 12 1/4 inches (38 x 31 cm)
Dutch ripple style frame
Loeding was born in Leiden in around 1637 and was admitted into the Leiden Guild of St Luke in 1664. Like other Dutch cities, Leiden required membership in the guilds in order to sell wares falling under the various specifications. There is no record of his artistic training or influences, but he likely belonged to the circle of artists including Pieter de Ring and Gerrit Dou, who founded and maintained the Guild. Loeding is last registered as a member in 1673.
One of the most versatile genres that emerged from Dutch 17th Century artistic specialisms is that of 'pronkstilleven'; a laden table with a variety of rich textures, like ornate glassware, gilded goblets, exquisite nautilus cups...
Category
Mid-17th Century Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
18th Century by Francesco Lavagna Pair of Flower Vases Oil on Canvas
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Francesco Lavagna (active in Naples in the mid-18th century)
Title: Pair of Flower Vases
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: without frame 98 x 36 cm each - with frame 112 x 50 cm each...
Category
Early 18th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Mid Twentieth Century Still Life of Fruits and Wine Carafe Large Oil Painting
Located in ludlow, GB
Mid Twentieth Century Still Life of Fruits and Wine Carafe Large Oil Painting featuring tumbling fruit and a wine glass and wine carafe.
Nicely painted and highly detailed, I have t...
Category
1950s Realist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Fruit Cluster
By James Koenig
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original modern abstract by American artist James Koenig. This work created in 1954 is featured in the Draw Near exhibition currently on view at Benjaman Gallery.
Category
1950s Abstract Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Flowers In A Vase Mid-Century Modern Still Life
By Edith Faucon
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Bouquet of Flowers Bouquet Still Life
Oil on masonite, signed.
Edith Faucon was born on May 24 in 1919 in Carentan France. She owes her artistic training first to Jules Adler, and th...
Category
1950s Post-Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Masonite, Oil
Still Life w/ Flowers, Bust & Parisian Scene, American Impressionist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Abel Warshawsky (American, 1883-1962)
Still Life
Oil on canvas
Signed upper right
32 x 25.5 inches
Provenance: From the Alexander Warshawsky Estate
Impressionist painter A.G. Wars...
Category
1950s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Dipinto Natura Morta con Funghi e Fiori XVIII secolo
Located in Milan, IT
Olio su tela.
Una delicata composizione di fiori è collocata dentro una sorta di culla di legno, con funghi e frutti per terra; lo sfondo è in esterno, ma poco definito da macchie v...
Category
18th Century Other Art Style Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Allegory of Winter
Located in Milano, IT
This painting depicts a fascinating allegory of winter, attributed to Francesco Zucchi, an 18th-century Venetian artist. The work depicts an anthropomorphic figure composed of fruits...
Category
Early 18th Century Baroque Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Still Life Of Pears, Apples and Grapes in an upturned basket, 17th Century
Located in Blackwater, GB
Still Life Of Pears, Apples and Grapes in an upturned basket, 17th Century
circle of BARTHOLOMEUS ASSTEYN (1607-1667)
Huge 17th Century Dutch Still Life of apples, pears and grape...
Category
17th Century Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
'Still Life of Flowers', Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest
By Bordas Ferenc
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Oil still-life of a bouquet of ocher, rose, cobalt, lavender, and ivory wildflowers, informally arranged in a goblet against a background of rust and periwinkle.
Signed lower right...
Category
1950s Expressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Still Life with Flowers, Fruits and Animals
Located in Milan, IT
Oil painting on canvas. Neapolitan school of the seventeenth-eighteenth century. The large composition is rich in numerous different elements: in the center stands a large floral com...
Category
Late 17th Century Other Art Style Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
17th Century by Onofrio Loth Still Life Oil on Canvas
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Onofrio Loth (Naples, Italy, 1665 – 1717)
Title: Still life
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: without frame 37.5 x 47.5 cm – with frame 50 x 57 cm
Original ebonised wooden frame wit...
Category
Late 17th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
"The Lumberjacks" Pierre Ambrogiani (France, 1905-1985) circa 1950s
Located in SANTA FE, NM
"The Lumberjacks"
Pierre Ambrogiani (France, 1905-1985)
Oil on canvas
Circa 1950's
27 x 22 1/2 (frame) inches
The bright and balanced palette of this magnificent painting does noth...
Category
1950s Expressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
17th century By Dutch Maestro Still life with bird, carp & lobster Oil on canvas
Located in Milano, Lombardia
17th Century Dutch Maestro
Title: Still life with bird, carp & lobster
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: without frame 116 x 97 cm - with frame 153 x 133,5 cm
Antique frame "a casset...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Carnations & Rose Buds
Located in Summit, NJ
Gorgeous oil on panel by Harold Cohn. Beautiful reds - the photo does not do the painting justice. The texture of the flowers is stunning. The piece is fra...
Category
1950s Abstract Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel, Board
17th Century by Nicolas van Houbraken Still Life with Mushrooms Oil on Canvas
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Nicolas Van Houbraken (Messina, Italy, 1668 - Pisa, Italy, 1733)
Title: Still life with mushrooms
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: without frame 26 x 32 cm - with frame 38.5 x 33.5...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
18th Century Still Life Nicola Casissa Natura Morta Oil on Canvas Black Red Blue
Located in Sanremo, IT
Painting, oil on canvas, measuring 74 x 108 cm without frame and 93 x 125 cm with a wonderful coeval frame, depicting a 'posed' still life with flowers, fruit and mushrooms by the painter Nicola Casissa ( Naples 1680 - 1731 ).
This sparkling posed still life gives an account of the richness and scenography that such images achieved in Naples in the late Baroque period: we know from inventories how the still life genre reached unprecedented heights.
This delicate canvas, of exquisite workmanship and appreciable for its excellent state of preservation, shows us definite influences of the work of Andrea...
Category
1690s Italian School Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Painted Still Life with Hunting Game Asparagus Chestnuts and Flowers
Located in Milan, IT
Oil on Canvas.
The composition features the following in the center a hanging hare, flanked by some quail and a pigeon; on the destr side, a wicker basket containing chestnuts and p...
Category
18th Century and Earlier Other Art Style Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Girls by the Sea - Mid 20th Century Nude Still Life Oil by Michael D'Aguilar
Located in Watford, Hertfordshire
Baron Michael D`Aguilar was born on May 15, 1922 in London to Spanish parents. He was brother of the artist Paul D`Aguilar. He spent much of his early life in Spain. He studied at...
Category
1950s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel
Blue Still Life
Located in Wiscasset, ME
This vibrant work by noted 20th century American artist, Joel Durand, employs a bold palette and sophisticated approach in this dramatic and abstracted sti...
Category
1950s Modern Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
17th Century By Lombard Artist Still Life with Birds and Burning Fuse Oil/canvas
Located in Milano, Lombardia
"Cassetta" frame in sculpted, carved, gilded wood.
Expertise by Gianluca Bocchi.
Category
17th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Study of Apples, Pears, Caterpillar, Butterflies and Mice - by Johannes BOUMAN
Located in Blackwater, GB
Study of apples, pears, caterpillar, butterflies and mice, dated 1635
Johannes BOUMAN (1601-1658)
17th century Dutch master study of pear...
Category
17th Century Dutch School Still-life Paintings
Materials
Panel, Oil
Vintage Mid-Century Swedish Floral Still Life Oil Painting - Hyacinths
Located in Bristol, GB
HYACINTHS
Size: 52 x 42 cm (including frame)
Oil on Board
An expressive and beautifully textured mid-century floral still life painting, executed in oil onto board.
The composition...
Category
1950s Expressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Still Life with Fruit and Flowers (Mid-Century Framed Impressionist Painting)
Located in New Orleans, LA
A lovely still vintage Impressionist still life that is almost all the way to abstraction, with the color passages around the fruit and flowers gently blending into one another. Comes framed, but I think it's worthy of a larger gold frame...
Category
1950s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Cylinder and Pear
By Walter Tandy Murch
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Cylinder and Pear, c. 1959, oil on board, 18 x 24 inches, literature: W. Meyers, Walter Tandy Murch: Paintings and Drawings 1925-1967, New York, 2021, p. 176, pl. 41, illustrated; pr...
Category
1950s American Modern Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Still Life
Located in Paris, Île-de-France
Floris van Schooten (1585/88-1656)
Still Life
Oil on canvas, 121 x 85 cm
Provenance:
Private Collection
Floris van Schooten, a Dutch painter mainly active in Haarlem, is renowned ...
Category
1630s Baroque Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Still life of Summer Flowers in a Basket with Fruit.
By Pieter Casteels III
Located in Taunton, GB
Still life of Summer Flowers in a Basket with Fruit.
Circa 1730
Oil On Canvas
32 ¾ x 48 ¼ inches83.1 x 122.5 cm
Presented in a 17th century Italian carved gilt frame.
Acquired from The collection of the Late Edgar Wigan, Bradstone Brook, Shalford.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
The son of the Flemish painter Pieter Casteels II (referred to as Casteels the Younger) whom he studied under. While Casteels II was best known for his capriccio harbour scenes and landscapes of his native Antwerp, Casteels III worked primarily in England, where he immigrated in 1708 at the age of 24 and began his career copying Old Master.
Casteels III painted still lives of flowers, and bird and game scenes, and in 1726 produced a volume of twelve plates of bird etchings. Following the success of the publication, he created similar volumes for both flowers and fruit. Pieter Casteels III...
Category
17th Century Flemish School Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Early Abstract Expressionist - Black Mountain College Teacher, Franz Kline
Located in Miami, FL
With Abstract Expressionist painting, one could argue that the earlier, the more historically important. This stunning non-objective action painting is characterized by vast swaths o...
Category
1950s Abstract Expressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Fiberboard
The Painter's Studio, Colorful Post-Cubist Oil Painting by A. Rigollot
By A. Rigollot
Located in Atlanta, GA
This stunning post-cubist and colorist still life oil on board painting is by A. Rigollot (France, 20th Century).
Colorist painting is characterized by intense color use, which becom...
Category
1950s Cubist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
17th Century by Giovanni Paolo Castelli Still Life Oil on Canvas
By Giovanni Paolo Castelli detto Spadino
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Giovanni Paolo Castelli known as Spadino (Rome, Italy, 1659 - 1730)
Title: Still life
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: without frame 81 x 31 ...
Category
Late 17th Century Old Masters Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
Pair of Exceptional Italian Still Life Paintings of Flowers 18th century
Located in Rome, IT
- ANNA CATERINA GILLI or
GILLI Anna Caterina Turin 1729- 1751
Her paintings recorded in Turin as a decorative artist for the Royal Palace and the Stupinigi,
working in a simil...
Category
Mid-18th Century Baroque Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil
Coppia di Nature Morte con angurie, uva e fichi di Maximilian Pfeiler
Located in Milan, IT
Maximilian Pfeiler (attivo dal 1683 al 1721 ca)
Natura morta con anguria e Natura morta con uva e fichi
(2) Olio su tela, cm 62 x 76
Con cornice, cm 79 x 92
La coppia di nature mort...
Category
Late 17th Century Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
White on White Blue, Expressionist Still Life by Philadelphia Artist
Located in Doylestown, PA
"White on White Blue" is a monochromatic, interior still life by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The 20" x 16" oil on canvas painting is framed and signed "B ...
Category
1950s Expressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Mid-17th-Century Neapolitan School, Still Life With Grapes, Peaches & Plums
Located in Cheltenham, GB
This elaborate mid-17th-century Neapolitan school still life depicts a pyramidal arrangement of fruit on a circular silver platter. It’s somewhat reminiscent of works by Luca Forte (...
Category
1670s Italian School Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Still Life with Fish and Large Copper Pot, Late 18th Century Spanish Painting
Located in London, GB
Oil on canvas
Image size: 24 x 28 1/2 inches (61 x 73 cm)
Contemporary style hand made frame
This is an incredibly carefully executed work. On what appears to be a wooden ledge we see a plate of freshwater fish, possibly a roach, a copper pot, a larger terracota pot...
Category
Late 18th Century Realist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Pears & Blue Apothecary Bottle - Large Mid 20th Century French Naïf Oil Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A superb large 1950's French oil on canvas still life depicting pears and a blue apothecary bottle on a table by Peter Orlando.
Interesting subject painted in the distinctive mid 2...
Category
1950s Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Antique Polish American Impressionist Flower Still Life Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique Polish American impressionist flower still life oil painting by Edward Lis (1915 - 2011). Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Image size, 15H x 17L.
Category
1950s Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Antique American Modernist Abstract Still Life Nicely Framed Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American modernist still life oil painting. Framed. Oil on board. Signed.
Category
1950s Modern Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Natura morta con frutti, verdure e vaso con fiori su un ripiano in pietra
Located in Como, IT
Artista attivo in ambito lombardo nel primo quarto del XVII secolo
Natura morta con frutti, verdure e vaso con fiori su un ripiano in pietra
Olio su tela cm. 115 x 170
Studio del ...
Category
Early 17th Century Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
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.