Nature Morte A La Nappe Rouge

René Genis was born on July 26, 1922 in Hué, Annam, French Indonesia (Vietnam). Genis went with his family to Gironde, Arcachon in Bordeaux, France in 1931. Starting in 1940 he studied for five years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux, which won him a four year scholarship to the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris with Albert Marquet and Marcel Gromaire. He exhibited at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture and participated in group shows throughout France. He had his first one-man show at Galerie Charpentier in Paris in 1956. A painter, printmaker and illustrator, Genis taught at the College de Pontoise. From that time, Genis exhibited his paintings at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture, and he received the prize in 1960. For forty years, he exhibited regularly at the Salon Comparaisons in the group of Maurice Boitel. He was also a member of the Society of French Painters-Engravers. Genis is famous with his elegant still-life painting. No matter if the theme is Oriental scenery or French countryside, he always keeps a very poetry serenely ambience. With other artists like Guy Bardone, André Brasilier, Bernard Cathelin, and Paul Guiramand, Genis is also one of the important members of the Parisian Neo-Figurative School. His work has been collected by Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, National Library of Paris, Fine Arts Museum of Lyon, Yamagata Museum of Art etc. René Genis was influenced by the group of poetic realists with Christian Caillard, Jules Cavaillès, Raymond Legueult, Roger Limouse, Roland Oudot, André Planson, etc. The Swiss painter Andry acknowledges being influenced by him. (Bio sourced from the Archives of AskArt - Submitted 2022 by: Jacob Frank)

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.