Oil painting still life

Author: Huang Ming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-11-01
Features: This book comprehensively introduces the origin and development of oil still life painting, the creation of Chinese modern and contemporary still life paintings, various styles and schools, as well as masterpieces. It also covers the study and creation of oil still life paintings, the selection of tools and materials, and more.
Impressionism can be seen as the link between traditional and modern art. The advancements in optics in the 19th century provided an opportunity for the development of painting. Its significance lies not in the creation of Impressionism, but in bringing about conceptual progress in painting. Later Impressionism, in particular, exhibits stronger modern characteristics in style and has become a peak in the development of still life painting. Its artistic creation emphasizes the relationship between the form and the elements that constitute it—such as lines, color blocks, volume, and surface—while expressing a strong sense of introspection and individuality. This laid more theoretical groundwork for the emergence of the ever-evolving modernist painting.
Entering the modernist era, still life painting entered a new era in style and form. Fauvism and Cubism not only broadened the expressive techniques of still life painting but also liberated it from its dependence on literature and history, highlighting the "independent value of its own artistic language." The figurative expression painting that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s injected new meaning into still life painting. A group of artists with profound thoughts were dissatisfied with introspection and made more rational choices in visual art. At this time, still life painting reflected their sense of to traditional visual language more. Objectively speaking, still life painting since Cézanne has completely surpassed the aesthetic scope of traditional still life painting and has been integrated into the broader realm of art. People no longer need to worry about its status. Many artists often use still life painting as a specific subject to explore and interpret the laws of form and visual language. In this sense, we can say that all painting of this century, including some new artistic movements, are connected to still life painting in some intrinsic way, whether in concept or form.