ARTISTS
Significant Objects: The Spell of Still Life
The Norton Simon Museum presents “Significant Objects: The Spell of Still Life,” an exhibition that examines the diversity and splendor of this genre that has attracted artists since antiquity. Drawing on the spectacular resources of the Norton Simon collections, as well as a few select loans, the exhibition features approximately 70 artworks, including paintings, sculpture, collage, assemblage, prints and photographs, spanning five centuries. Among these are stellar examples by the genre’s greatest practitioners, including Jan Brueghel, Rembrandt van Rijn, Francisco de Zurbarán, Paul Cézanne, Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin, Gustave Courbet, Henri Fantin-Latour, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Richard Diebenkorn, Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston and George Herms.
The classical definition of a still life—a work of art depicting inanimate, typically commonplace objects that are either natural (food, flowers or game) or man-made (glasses, books, vases and other collectibles)—conveys little about the rich associations inherent to this genre. In the academic tradition of Western art, still life occupied the lowest position in the hierarchy of the arts, which recognized history painting, portraiture and landscape painting as superior. It was disparaged critically and theoretically as mere copying that lacked artistic imagination and placed no intellectual
demands on the viewer. “Significant Objects: The Spell of Still Life” suggests that nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, the exhibition explores the wealth of aesthetic and conceptual artistic strategies that challenge the shortsighted view of still life as simply an art of imitation. It also underscores why the still life continues to be an important vehicle of expression.
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The Norton Simon Museum presents “Significant Objects: The Spell of Still Life,” an exhibition that examines the diversity and splendor of this genre that has attracted artists since antiquity. Drawing on the spectacular resources of the Norton Simon collections, as well as a few select loans, the exhibition features approximately 70 artworks, including paintings, sculpture, collage, assemblage, prints and photographs, spanning five centuries. Among these are stellar examples by the genre’s greatest practitioners, including Jan Brueghel, Rembrandt van Rijn, Francisco de Zurbarán, Paul Cézanne, Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin, Gustave Courbet, Henri Fantin-Latour, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Richard Diebenkorn, Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston and George Herms.
The classical definition of a still life—a work of art depicting inanimate, typically commonplace objects that are either natural (food, flowers or game) or man-made (glasses, books, vases and other collectibles)—conveys little about the rich associations inherent to this genre. In the academic tradition of Western art, still life occupied the lowest position in the hierarchy of the arts, which recognized history painting, portraiture and landscape painting as superior. It was disparaged critically and theoretically as mere copying that lacked artistic imagination and placed no intellectual
demands on the viewer. “Significant Objects: The Spell of Still Life” suggests that nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, the exhibition explores the wealth of aesthetic and conceptual artistic strategies that challenge the shortsighted view of still life as simply an art of imitation. It also underscores why the still life continues to be an important vehicle of expression.
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