Still Lifes; Are they Really the Lowest on the Painting Genre Scale?

Who doesn’t love to look at paintings of lush flowers or fruit? Think 17th-century Dutch still lifes. Still-life paintings usually represent ordinary things-vases, flowers, fruit, and treasured objects. No longer are still lifes considered low on the appreciation scale; they are now revered as some of the most charming and best-loved paintings and can contain intriguing meanings.
In this course, we will look at the natural world that inspired artists. Who can look at a Dutch still life painting and not be amazed at the varieties of flora and fauna contained therein? But did you know that Pompeian mosaics display some of the earliest still lifes? A recently excavated mosaic purportedly showed a pizza! The range of works of art in this genre is endless; it is ours to explore.
Consider Salvador Dali’s Persistence of Memory. Or Picasso’s cubist works, such as Still-Life with Chair Caning.