What is a still life?

Thank you for purchasing:
Hearts and Trees
Still Life Art Show Mini Unit Study
These notebooking activity pages are designed to get you and your children looking at art.
You are encouraged to print these notebooking pages to review with your children. Each
artist has a short biography that you can consider together. Some pages include easy art
activities that you might want to spend some time completing after you have studied the
painting.
You can consider the questions included on the notebooking sheets orally or have your children write down their responses. These questions are to help you take a deeper look and
gain a deeper understanding of the artist’s work, subject and style.
You can view all of these works online at www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com using the link to
the Still Life Art Show on the sidebar.
If you have any questions about these pages, feel free to contact Hearts and Trees through
our blog (www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com).
Feel free to print as many copies of these pages as needed for your personal use. Please
do not distribute or sell these pages. Thank you.
All the paintings included on these notebooking pages are in the public domain. Works
of art generally enter the public domain 70-100 years after the death of the artist. As
Lichtenstein and Botero’s works have not entered the public domain, they are not
included in these notebooking pages.
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
What is a still life?
A still life is a drawing, painting or sketch of objects that are not alive. Flowers and
fruit, tableware, books and newspapers, and musical instruments are common items in a
still life.
An artist might set up a still-life in his or her studio to do a ‘study’ of the objects. The
artist then studies the objects. He would examine their shape, where the light falls,
where the shadows the objects make fall and how different objects appear to overlap.
The artist also might paint the same still life over and over again with different lighting
or using a different style.
List some things below that you could find around your
house to include in your own still life:
Which is your favorite still life from the Hearts and Trees Still Life Art Show? Why?
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
Still Life with Candles and Mirror
Max Beckmann
1930 Oil on canvas 28 5/8 x 55 1/4 in.
Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe
Max Beckmann was a German painter. He also worked as a writer, a sculptor, a
print-maker and a draftsman. He enjoyed painting self-portraits. Beckmann lived
the last three years of his life in America and painted many American landscapes
and cityscapes during that time.
How many candles do you see in this painting?
What do you see reflected in the mirror?
What words would you use to describe this painting?
Do you like this painting? Why or why not?
Set up and sketch a still life that includes a mirror reflecting a part you want to draw
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
attention to.
Paul Cézanne
Still Life with Apples
1893-4 Oil on canvas 25 3/4 x 32 1/8 in.
Paul Cézanne was a French painter. He lived after the Impressionist painters, such
as Monet, Degas and Renoir, so he is called a Post-Impressionist. Cézanne like to
experiment with color and composition. He painted many still lifes using the same
jars, bowls and fabric, but varying the fruit and where the items were located in the
painting.
How many apples can you find in this painting?
What part of the painting is your eye drawn to when you first look at it?
What colors do you see in this painting?
How would you describe the texture of the blue cloth in the bottom right hand corner?
Color your own Cézanne still life (found on the next page).
Will you use the same colors as Cézanne?
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
Paul Cézanne Still Life with Apples
Gustave Courbet
Still Life: Fruit
1871-2 Oil on canvas
23 1/4 x 28 3/8 in
Shelburne Museum, Vermont
Gustave Courbet was a French painter. He was part of the Realist movement, which means he tried to paint things as they really appear to the
eye. People that saw Courbet paint said he was really rough with his
canvas and would scrape paint off to make interesting textures.
What fruits do you see in this painting?
What is the tallest thing in this painting?
Can you identify any of the flowers in the vase?
What is your eye drawn to in this painting?
On a separate piece of paper draw a tall vase of flowers.
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
Ambrosius Bosschaert
Bouquet of Flowers on a Ledge
1620 Oil on wood
11 x 9 in
Bosschaert was a Dutch painter who specialized in floral still lifes.
Can you find the butterfly and dragonfly in this painting?
What did Bosschaert paint on the ledge?
Which is your favorite flower in the vase? Why?
What do you think is the most important part of this painting?
On a separate piece of paper sketch a still life with something interesting in the background
like Bosschaert did in Bouquet of Flowers on a Ledge.
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
Pieter Claesz
A Vanitas Still Life
1645 Oil on panel
15 x 24 in.
Pieter Claesz was a Dutch painter. He specialized in painting still lifes. He often
used monochromatic color schemes in his paintings, which means he would use
different shades of the same color throughout the piece. A vanitas is a type of still
life, where every object in the painting symbolizes something.
What things can you identify in this painting?
How would you describe the mood of this painting?
How would you describe the colors in this painting?
Can you tell which direction the light is coming from?
What do you think the feather in this painting could symbolize?
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
William Harnett Still-life with Violin
1888 Oil on canvas 20 x 24 in.
New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut
William Harnett was an Irish-American painter. He specialized in trompe l’oeil,
which means “fool the eye.” That is a style of painting where ordinary objects are
painted in such a way that the painting can be mistaken for the objects themselves.
Often things in the painting are arranged on a ledge or hanging from a nail and
appear to not be a part of the canvas.
What is hanging off the table in this painting?
What color is used most in this painting?
What interests you most about this painting?
How would you describe the brush strokes Harnett used on the back wall?
To view a slide-show of more trompe l’oeil paintings, visit:
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2002/slideshow/slide-176-1.shtm
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
Paul Signac Still Life with a Book and Oranges
1885 Oil on canvas 12 3/4 x 18 1/4 in.
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
Paul Signac Still Life with Pitcher
1919 Watercolor and graphite 11 7/8 x 17 5/8 in.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Paul Signac lived in France. As a child he saw the paintings of the French
Impressionists Monet and Degas. Signac liked to experiment with different
brush strokes. He is best known for his work in the pointillist style. Pointillism is the use of small dots of paint, instead of brush strokes.
How would you describe the brush strokes in Still Life with a Book and Oranges?
What is the thing furthest away on the table in this painting?
What colors do you see in Still Life with Pitcher?
Do you like the style of Signac’s Still Life with Pitcher ?
Using a pencil or permanent marker, sketch a still life like Signac’s Still Life with Pitcher. Then
go back over the sketch with watercolors like Signac did.
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
Look at Fernando Botero’s painting Still Life with Watermelon at
www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com.
In the space above, draw your own version of this painting with crayons or colored pencils.
Fernando Botero is a painter and sculptor from Columbia. Some people compare his
style to Picasso’s. He is best known for his portraits, paintings of people and
animals, where the figures appear blown up like a balloon. Botero likes to use bright
colors and interesting shapes. To see an example of Botero’s portrait paintings, see:
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/b/botero/botero_family.jpg
What can you see reflected in the mirror?
What do you notice out the window in this painting? (Can you spot the volcano?)
What colors did Botero use in the painting?
Does this painting look realistic to you? Would it look like this in real life?
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
Paul Gauguin was a French painter. He
liked to experiment with color in his
paintings. As a youth Gauguin was a
friend of the painter Pissaro who
introduced him to other famous
painters like VanGogh and Cézanne.
Some of Gauguin’s most famous works
were inspired by his trips to the tropics.
Gauguin also painted many self-portraits.
On a separate piece of paper sketch your
pet getting into trouble. If you don’t have a
pet, sketch an imaginary dog or cat
misbehaving.
You can also color your own version of
Gauguin’s Still Life with Three Puppies using
the coloring sheet on the next page.
Paul Gauguin Still Life with Three Puppies
1888 Oil on canvas 34 3/4 x 24 5/8 in.
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
What are the three puppies doing in this painting?
Where do you think the puppies are? On the floor? On a table?
Do you think the puppies are supposed to be drinking the milk in the pan?
How do you think the person who left the milk in the pan will feel when he or she sees the puppies lapping it up?
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
Paul Gauguin
Still Life with Three Puppies
Henri Matisse Still Life with Blue Tablecloth
1909 34 5/8 x 46 1/2” Oil on canvas
The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
Henri Matisse was a French painter, print-maker, scultor and collage-maker. He
is known for his use of very bright colors and orignial compositions. In his later
years, Matisee became too sick to paint so he began “painting with scissors” and
would make intricate paper collages. To see an example of a Matisse cut-paper
collage see: http://www.abcgallery.com/M/matisse/matisse121.html
How would you describe this painting to a person who could not see it?
Which objects seems closer to you in this painting? Further away?
What questions would you Matisse about Still Life with Blue Tablecloth, if he was here?
What do you think it would be like to live in this painting?
On a separate piece of paper sketch a still life using very bold, bright colors like Matisse used.
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com
Look at Roy Lichtenstein’s painting Still Life with Lamp at
www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com.
In the space above, draw your own version of this painting with pencil or a black marker.
Roy Lichtenstein was an American painter. He painted pop art, which means that it
was inspired by what was popular at the time. A lot of his work looks like images
from comic books because that was one thing that inspired him. In his work
Lichtenstein used thick lines, bold colors and Benday Dots. Benday dots are small
dots of color that blend in the viewer’s eye to create a new color.
What color did Lichtenstein use in this painting?
How does this painting look different if you squint your eyes or stand far away from it?
Does this painting remind you of a comic from the newspaper? Why or why not?
How did Lichtenstein show light and shadow in Still Life with Lamp?
Look at a color photo or a colored comic in a newspaper using a magnifying glass. If you look very
closely, you’ll discover that the photo or comic is actually made up of lots of small dots. Can you see
the small dots of blue, yellow, red and black? These are Benday Dots.
©2008 Amanda McCoy www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com