Still Life

Still life is the painterly representation of the world surrounding humans. The genre still holds great significance in painting today, as it offers artists almost endless possibilities to practice painting techniques with virtuosity. Its history goes far back — such wall paintings of this kind were already made in ancient Egypt and Rome. In our latest selection, we deal with the history of the still life genre, and in our gallery, you can admire the rich still life collection of the Rippl-Rónai Regional City Museum.

The term “still life” in several languages refers to calmness and the harmonious arrangement of inanimate objects. Still life-like depictions already existed in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; however, these works primarily served decorative purposes. During the Middle Ages, still life receded into the background, as religious themes dominated fine arts. The still life genre revived during the Renaissance to such an extent that it later developed into a separate genre in Italy and the Netherlands.
As for the artists, Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio) was the first creator to paint realistic still lifes. Later, a type of still life emerged with allegorical or symbolic meaning, connected to vanitas painting.

From Withering Flowers to Skulls

The allegorical depiction of the senses in the first half of the 17th century is linked to vanitas painting. “Vanitas pictures are usually still lifes with intellectual content that convey a moral message,” summarizes Katalin Bartha-Kovács. What was the message? The paintings conveyed the transience and futility of things, their main message being that all earthly things will eventually pass away, so it is not worth attaching oneself to vanities and worldly goods. Typical recurring iconography in these paintings included the skull, the candle, or the withering flower.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the still life genre further developed and became a field for painterly experimentation, where artists could try out new forms, colors, and compositions. Thus, Renoir’s peaches are just peaches; we do not need to assume any hidden meaning when looking at his painting. Meanwhile, Paul Cézanne experimented a lot with this genre, primarily trying to convey depth and perspective in his works. Countless still lifes were created because, regardless of style, this genre can be found in almost every painter’s repertoire.
Regarding the subjects of the paintings, they can be flowers, fruits, or both, but still lifes could also be created from compositions of the most everyday objects. However, as seen in our selection, the most famous works are flower still lifes.

TÉ

translated by GL

Sources:

Gáspárdy Tibor: Painting – Graphics. Sopron University Press, Sopron, 2021

Recommendation

Majk, where silence lived once

The domestic history of the Camaldolese monastic order in Majk began in the 1730s and is closely linked to the life of the Esterházy family. The Baroque monument complex, consisting of the monastery, seventeen cell houses and the church tower, is truly unique, as is the history of the family that owned the complex. In our latest selection, we recall the years of the Camaldolese order and the Esterházy family in Majk.

Cult of Saint Ladislaus

In the memory of posterity, St. Ladislaus (Hungarian: László) was an athletic, brave and heroic knight king. We know surprisingly much about his life; the chronicles are wordy, especially in the descriptions of battles and throne strifes. These descriptions drew a tough and purposeful ruler who also fenced very well. Still, the greatest merit of Ladislaus I of Hungary was that he continued Stephen's church-building work and consolidated the country's internal order during the period of internal strifes. Béla III of Hungary also contributed to the development of the Ladislaus cult, when he canonized Ladislaus on 27 June, 1192 with papal approval. This week we are dealing with his cult.

The Cult of Empress Elisabeth

Public monument sculpture played a significant role in the image of 19th century settlements. However, the sculptures are not only about the changes that have taken place in the fabric of the city; they can also be used to trace the development of the cult of a given person, including the memory of Empress and Queen Elisabeth. Nowadays, the statue of Elisabeth looks at the Buda side calmly in the park next to the bridge named after her, even though it used to be an ornament of the Pest side. Most of the Queen’s monuments were made in the years after her death. Still, this monument in Budapest followed a series of statues more than 30 years later, when Sisi's memory had quite faded. What conditions hindered the completion of the work, and what was the cult of Elisabeth like at the beginning of the 20th century, will be revealed in our selection.

Ádám Würtz and the Golden Age of Hungarian Graphic Art

'I draw, therefore I am', goes the motto of Ádám Würtz. He continues: 'I can say this, because as long as I can remember, I have always been drawing.' His name and work may be familiar to many: we recall the purple-toned cover of Lóci óriás lesz by Lőrinc Szabó, or the black-based portrait on The Great Indian Book by James Fenimore Cooper. We may also remember his illustrations for the dramas of William Shakespeare, for The Book of Jonah by Mihály Babits, and those created for the 75th anniversary of the birth of Attila József.

The fancy, the scientific and the strange: antique book illustrations and theories

Illustrations of codices and other old books bespeak about doctrines and ideas of a certain period of time, besides the artists’ aesthetical tastes. In certain eras, people thought that beauty originated from God and that it was the artists’ responsibility to reflect God’s glory on works of art appropriately. Thus, they made certain masterpieces with especially great sense of responsibility and carefulness.

Victor Vasarely and the Op-Art Movement

Op-art is a lesser-known artistic style, but it is one of the most unusual movements. It challenges not only the eye but also the mind to interpret it. Op-art is short for "optical art". The brilliance of the paintings lies in the fact that the painters usually create an optical illusion on the canvas, with a cavalcade of geometric shapes and colours that give the impression that the patterns are moving and floating.

More thematic virtual exhibitions