GIAN CASPER

Objects frozen in time Setting up a still life may take no more than gathering a few objects on a table, but infusing its depiction with depth, texture, feeling, and even beauty takes great skill. The origins of the still life can be traced back at least to classical antiquity (such wall paintings have been found in the ruins of Pompeii) but the genre's name wasn't coined until the 17th century in Holland, a few centuries after it was re-popularized during the Renaissance. This book explores a stimulating selection of still lifes from the 15th century to the modern day, revealing the historical importance and creative possibilities of this genre. Featured artists: Meister der Maria von Burgund, Ludger tom Ring the Younger, Annibale Carracci, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Juan Sánchez Cotán, Jan Bruegel the Elder, Frans Snyders, Pieter Claesz Rembrandt, Sebastian Stoskopff, Jan Fyt, Evaristo Baschenis, Jan Davidsz de Heem, Willem Kalf, Otto Marseus van Schrieck, Giuseppe Maria Crespi, Jean-Siméon Chardin, Luis Eugenio Meléndez, Théodore Géricault, Eugène Delacroix, Adolph Menzel, Edouard Manet, Vincent van Gogh, John Haberle, Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, Umberto Boccioni, Giorgio De Chirico, Giorgio Morandi, Chaïm Soutine, Salvador Dalí, Daniel Spoerri, and Gerhard Richter