Those unfamiliar with art history may wonder, what makes a painting still life? Well, a still-life painting may feature a variety of items arranged in a specific (or disorganized) way. Sure, inanimate ...

GREAT BARRINGTON — The earliest recorded still life paintings date back more than two millennia and are referred to as Xenia, a Greek word meaning a specific kind of generous hospitality extended ...

Purchase this and other timeless New Criterion essays in our hard-copy reprint series. In terms of public reception in his day, he might have done better to paint even more still lifes. In terms of ...

It’s not usually the case that you get a sweetener when you buy an item at auction, even when you pay tens of millions of dollars, but Sotheby’s London has a special offer in its March 6 Modern and ...

Consider the Mediterranean monk seal. The mammal has been prized on the Italian peninsula since ancient times, hunted for its meat, fur, oil, and medicinal properties—so much so that by the 16th ...

Even during the sixteenth century, when the Holy Roman Emperor resided in Spain and made that country the greatest power of the earth, Spain could never aspire to cultural hegemony over the rival ...

Judith Linhares, "Freya’s Flowers" (2024), oil on linen (all image courtesy Judith Linhares and P·P·O·W, New York, © Judith Linhares. Photos Ian Edquist) The ...

“You’re not allowed to lick paintings in museums, which is cruel when you’re faced with something as mouthwateringly tempting as Wayne Thiebaud’s art,” said Eddy Frankel in The Guardian. The American ...

Early works show a less familiar side to the Scottish artist celebrated for her flower and cat paintings ...

The Kimbell Art Museum's yearslong quest to own a still-life painting by Jean Siméon Chardin has come to an end. The Cut Melon, a rare oval-shaped piece from the 18th-century French artist, has been ...

In a still life painting, the subjects cannot move. The bowl of fruit remains sedentary on the table. The hunk of cheese goes uneaten. The candles do not flicker. That's the rule according to the very ...