Still-life Paintings
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Gold Leaf
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Early 1900s Fauvist Still-life Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Glass, Mixed Media, Oil, Board
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Ink, Pencil
20th Century Post-Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
A solitary lemon rests on a table, exuding a subtle blue glow. Soft light brings out its textured skin, creating a contrast with the shadow that pools beneath...
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Mixed Media, Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Epoxy Resin, Oil, Board
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Linen, Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil, Linen
Artist Comments
Inspired by her garden, artist Judy Mackey photographed a pink rose and painted it up close. She used a palette knife to apply thick, textured strokes. The re...
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil, Panel
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
1960s Post-Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Post-Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas, Screen
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil
Early 20th Century Post-Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Oil
1940s Post-Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Graphite, Charcoal
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Post-Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Linen, Oil, Panel
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Gouache, Cardboard
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Color Pencil
Artist Comments
Artist Joyanna Margo recollects her childhood in this still life. The colors of the floral arrangement represent a pink diary and her time playing in Maine's ...
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Fauvist Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Paper, Oil, Panel
20th Century Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Paint, Board
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil
2010s Post-Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Color Pencil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Gesso, Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Gouache
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Paper, Gouache
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.