Still Life: A History

English, French (translation)

Skira here examines the history of still life painting from Egypt, Greece, and Rome to the 20th century. In a book stunningly illustrated with 150 full-color reproductions, he explores the use of objects for their physical interest, as emblems and symbols, in trompe l'oeil exercises, and as metaphysical revelations. Chapters are grouped around these themes--the pomegranate as emblem and sexual object, or the Vanitas still life, using skulls, hourglasses, roses, and snuffed-out candles to deal with mortality. As a still life painter himself, Skira comes closer to the poetry and emotions that inspired the artists he surveys than an art historian might. His is an idiosyncratic, personal approach that is often brilliant but sometimes obscure. It can well be used along with Charles Sterling's more traditional Still Life: From Antiquity to the Twentieth Century (Harper, 1981. rev. ed.).
- Daniel Lombardo, Jones Lib., Inc., Amherst, Mass.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.