Ordinary Vessels as Art

Back in the olden days artists often included ordinary, everyday objects in their art. Still life paintings which became popular in the sixteenth century actually exalted the value of simple everyday things. Items were arranged in a small scene, often described as a staged reality. Seventeenth century painter Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin is considered a master of the still life. Because he was too poor to hire models Vincent van Gogh would often paint pictures of the ordinary objects around him.



Still Life with Three Bottles and an Earthenware Vessel
van Gogh

 


Still Life with Copper Vessel
Jean Cardin

Contemporary artists still use ordinary objects but the objects may not just be pictured in the art, they ARE the art. Now days artists want viewers to see a new kind of reality.





 



---Lynn and Carole