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Introduction

Better Still

Looking at Still Life in the Museum Collection
February 6 - May 2, 2004

The “still life” has a long tradition in the history of art. Images of sumptuous containers filled with flowers, fruits, and vegetables reached a high point in the Netherlands in the 17th century, but their origins date back to the wall paintings of ancient Greece and Rome. The types of familiar domestic objects usually presented have changed little over time, permitting a continuity of appreciation over many generations. The viewer feels an immediate connection to basic household interiors, the necessities of eating and drinking, and the artifacts that surround the daily routines of kitchen, dining room, table, and market.

Still-life painting was long considered the lowest category of picture-making, distanced from the momentous events and moral implications of history painting or formal portraiture. Even so, patrons have always enjoyed its ability to convey wealth and social status. Rare tulip blooms, decorative objects, and small exotic animals have been represented with great skill over the years, as have the fur and feathers of the hunt’s bounty. From a salute to class privilege, humbler visions emerged: a simple breakfast of bread and eggs that might grace the rough table of a country home; a coffee cup and newspaper, representing life in an urban apartment. Compositions also may include references to the passage of time and to nature’s cycles of life, death, decay, and transformation.

In the artist’s studio, the usefulness and appeal of the still-life composition has never diminished. In the 20th century its possibilities expanded to include modernist collage, surrealist constructions, and room-size installations. Artists continue to find willing models in the inanimate objects around them. Their configurations suggest domestic dramas, moments of clarity, and memories of the past that provoke and delight.

Selected Objects

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Paul Cézanne

Still Life with Apples, ca. 1878
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Georges Braque

Still Life, 1918
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John Frederick Peto

Pipe and Mug, after 1889
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Don Eddy

Peaches, Tomatoes, Watermelons (Supermarket Window I), 1972
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Wayne Thiebaud

Wimbledon Trophy, 1968
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Jean-Baptiste Oudry

Dead Bird, ca. 1740-1750
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Georgia O'Keeffe

Pink Spirea, ca. 1922
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André Derain

Two Roses in a Glass Vase, ca. 1927-1928
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Jane Ogden

Bluebells and Primroses, 1866
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Attributed to Willem Claesz. Heda

Still Life, 1600s
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Dennis Congdon

Pile, 2000
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Grace Hartigan

Homage to Matisse, 1955
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Florine Stettheimer

Bouquet for Ettie, 1927
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Joseph Cornell

Untitled, 1949-1952
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Attributed to Jan van Huysum

Still Life with Flowers, ca. 1715-1730
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Henri Matisse

The Green Pumpkin, ca. 1916
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Henri Matisse

Still Life with Lemons, 1914
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Ann Hamilton

malediction, 1991
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John La Farge

Japanese Crackle Pottery with Camellias, 1879
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Nassos Daphnis

Three Feathers, 1938
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Janet Fish

Boone's Farm Apple Wine, 1972
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Fernand Léger

Flowers, 1926
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Louise Bourgeois

Still Life, 1963
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Michele Pace del Campidoglio

Still Life with Figure, ca. 1660
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Italian Sardinian

Floral Still Life with Urns, 1700s

More objects +

Exhibition Checklist

Better Still : Looking at Still Life in the Museum Collection

February 6 - May 2, 2004
View Checklist PDF

RISD Museum

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