The Academy set up the hierarchy of genres, and the most important one is history painting, followed by portraiture and genre painting. Still life and landscape art are younger, and they were considered less important for long time. They keep fifth and fourth place in this hierarchy, but some people have different opinion about it. Van Gogh's Sunflowers, for example, cannot be considered as less important, by all means.
Until sixteenth century, still life was rarely painted. If you would like to describe this genre, the easiest thing to say is that artists paint inanimate objects, natural or manufactured. You will find one interesting description in the Tate museum Glossary. It says that they paint anything that doesn't move or is dead. Natural objects are often food or flowers, and made ones books or vases.
Flowers can be just beautiful flowers, and nothing else, but they can also be highly symbolic. For example, lilies symbolize purity, and may refer to Virgin Mary's purity as well. On the other hand, Cezanne was more interested in shapes and colors of his motifs, and didn't care much about symbolism. Other authors sometimes used this genre just to practice their technique.
Caravaggio's basket of fruits is considered to be the first Western art major work presenting still life, at least the first recognized one. In the 1600s, some authors in Netherlands became more interested in this genre. Floral motif is quite common at the time, symbolic or not. Amazed by the beauty of flowers, numerous painters decided to immortalize this beauty.
Banquet pictures, game pictures and vanities were also quite popular motifs. Background is usually neutral, tan colored or gray, while flowers, for example, are bright colored. They use silver and gold for details. It is interesting that in this period you will often found watches, skulls and other reminders of death as a main motif.
Landscape art, on the other hand, emerged at the same time, but with different motifs. It feature nature, including water, mountains, woods, vegetation, rivers and lakes. Some works are highly realistic, while others are impressionistic or idealized, depending on the period. Predominant is oil, but numerous artists rather use water colors or pastels. You will also find mixed techniques.
Landscape officially became an independent genre in the 1600s. In this early period only a few authors were interested in painting landscapes. The situation will soon be changed, and this genre is popular today as well. Modern landscapes feature industrial buildings, roads and similar things.
In China, landscape art was highly appreciated long before. Western artists did paint them, but only as a background for their real motifs, mostly for different human activities. When Flemish and Dutch schools emerged in the seventeenth century, things have changed. Some famous artists such as Vermeer rose interest for this type of paintings. They finally became appreciated.
The nineteenth century is the period when some of the most amazing paintings were made. England and France were the centers, and artists like Turner and Constable changed the picture. In France, several famous painters, for example Renoir and Pissaro, painted some really beautiful landscapes. Sometimes people are also found on their works, but the nature is the prime motif.
Until sixteenth century, still life was rarely painted. If you would like to describe this genre, the easiest thing to say is that artists paint inanimate objects, natural or manufactured. You will find one interesting description in the Tate museum Glossary. It says that they paint anything that doesn't move or is dead. Natural objects are often food or flowers, and made ones books or vases.
Flowers can be just beautiful flowers, and nothing else, but they can also be highly symbolic. For example, lilies symbolize purity, and may refer to Virgin Mary's purity as well. On the other hand, Cezanne was more interested in shapes and colors of his motifs, and didn't care much about symbolism. Other authors sometimes used this genre just to practice their technique.
Caravaggio's basket of fruits is considered to be the first Western art major work presenting still life, at least the first recognized one. In the 1600s, some authors in Netherlands became more interested in this genre. Floral motif is quite common at the time, symbolic or not. Amazed by the beauty of flowers, numerous painters decided to immortalize this beauty.
Banquet pictures, game pictures and vanities were also quite popular motifs. Background is usually neutral, tan colored or gray, while flowers, for example, are bright colored. They use silver and gold for details. It is interesting that in this period you will often found watches, skulls and other reminders of death as a main motif.
Landscape art, on the other hand, emerged at the same time, but with different motifs. It feature nature, including water, mountains, woods, vegetation, rivers and lakes. Some works are highly realistic, while others are impressionistic or idealized, depending on the period. Predominant is oil, but numerous artists rather use water colors or pastels. You will also find mixed techniques.
Landscape officially became an independent genre in the 1600s. In this early period only a few authors were interested in painting landscapes. The situation will soon be changed, and this genre is popular today as well. Modern landscapes feature industrial buildings, roads and similar things.
In China, landscape art was highly appreciated long before. Western artists did paint them, but only as a background for their real motifs, mostly for different human activities. When Flemish and Dutch schools emerged in the seventeenth century, things have changed. Some famous artists such as Vermeer rose interest for this type of paintings. They finally became appreciated.
The nineteenth century is the period when some of the most amazing paintings were made. England and France were the centers, and artists like Turner and Constable changed the picture. In France, several famous painters, for example Renoir and Pissaro, painted some really beautiful landscapes. Sometimes people are also found on their works, but the nature is the prime motif.
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