Breaths of still life
"Here are fruits, flowers, leaves and branches,
And then here is my heart that beats only for you.
Do not tear it with your two white hands
And to your eyes so beautiful may the humble gift be sweet." [1]
Through the object represented, still life signifies time. It captures a form in an instant of its life and its relationship with other elements. Beyond any narrative, the object is there, before our eyes. It offers itself.
Whether it's a composition within an antique fresco, a still life inspired by 17th-century Jansenism, an inanimate object transformed into a subject by Chardin, or a subject of research by the avant-garde, still life transcends its own boundaries. It is both a place of creation and a point of departure. The freedom to choose and assemble objects allows visual artists to study space, color and form. They provide solutions to pictorial problems, but also to certain inner questions.
Still life endures. Both a breeding ground and a field of exploration for today's artists, it is both present and timeless. The flexibility it offers continues to challenge the eye. Through the object, its materiality and its eternity, does it offer us a breath of contemplation: that of ourselves?
Mahault de Raymond-Cahuzac
[1] Paul Verlaine, "Green" in Romances sans paroles (1874).
Work: Damien Cabanes, Galerie Eric Dupont © photo: Clara Pagnussatt
