Still life: A History Sybille Ebert-Schifferer

The still life is the best-loved image in the history of Western painting. The ancient Greeks and Romans decorated their houses with still-life paintings, and these beguiling pictures of fruit, flowers, writing tools, and other common objects have continued to give pleasure to viewers ever since. Always tied to the idea pf creating an illusion, of "fooling the eye", the still life has flourished in many forms, as wall decoration, manuscript margin, treasured object, moralizing emblem, and visual pun. Full of new information and beautiful illustrations, this fascinating history of the European still life from the ancient world to the twentieth century is a pleasure to read and a joy to look at. Readers will learn about the still life's origin in Greco-Roman images of xenia, or 'hospitality gifts", and how these evocative pictures evolved into the superb trompe l'oeil still-life paintings of the Roman Empire. The book continues with the still life's re-emergence in sixteenth century Europe and its new associations with the cycles of nature and with Christian moralism, and follows its development to the pure still lifes of the eighteenth century and later. This astonishing pageant encompasses the meticulous realism of the Old Masters and the powerful forms of Courbet and his fellow Realists. It continues with the gorgeous visions of Monet and Renoir, the dynamic compositions of Cezanne and Picasso, and the Pop witticisms of Tom Wesselmann and Roy Lichtenstein. Taken together it is one of the great epic stories of Western art history. While the author's sparkling text offers a new understanding of this splendid part of our common heritage, the handsome color plates will bring the work of these great artists to life. About the author Sybille Ebert-Schifferer studied art history, music, theater and philosophy in Munich and Berlin, and received a doctorate in art history. The author of numerous articles over a broad range of topics in the history of art, she has worked at museums in Berlin and Frankfurt and Bonn. From 1991 until 1997 she was the Director of the art museum in Darmstadt (Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt). Since January 1998, she has been General Director of the art collections in Dresden (Staatliche Kunstsammlungenb Dresden).