10675 Still Life: From Represented Objects to Real Objects

Credits: 6 intermediate credits in Art History

Prerequisites: none

Recommended: Art History: An Introduction

Author: Alec Mishory

The course outlines a conceptual sequence of the ways in which we relate to objects and to their depiction in art. It explains how still life paintings have expressed different ideas in various periods and styles of western culture. Reference to selected still life paintings shows the metamorphosis that everyday objects undergo in their artistic representations. Acquaintance with the tradition of still life painting enables the student to understand significant principles and terms generally used in the discussion of modern and post-modern art.

Topics: Still life in painting until the 17th century: still life in the ancient world and medieval and Renaissance Europe; On the way to "independence": still life in the 15th and 16th centuries; Still life as an autonomous genre: objects as means for contemplating the vanity of pleasure; "Tulipmania": a table set for meals and surgical operations; Still life in modern art: from the end of the 18th century to the mid-19th century; Still life in the second half of the 19th century; Real objects: still life in 20th century art - "Objects of Desire" in Cubism and its derivatives; Back to traditional still life and modern mechanical-technological objects; Objects in space: still life in Metaphysical and Surrealist art; The object in consumer society: Pop art; Still life and real objects in Israeli art.