Art Events
Still-Life
Paintings found in Egyptian graves, murals rescued from the ruins of Pompeii, are some of the oldest examples that allow us to affirm that still-life, as an artistic gender, is rooted at the dawn of the art history.
Perhaps without reaching the rank of major historical religious or mythological themes, or portraits and figures that successively embodied power, the still-lifes attracted the attention of artists throughout the ages.
The representation of inanimate objects in the plastic space , nature fruits combined not only with sumptuous decorative pieces but also everyday household utensils always result a valid incentive to creativity of artists.
Estudio Garrido Abogados, through the works of Paideia collection, dedicated this time to "Still-life" their monthly proposal in conjunction with he Gallery Nights and continues its task of disseminating Argentinean art.
Relocating to our environment the feat of still-life, sometimes also called ???Tavern ", the traveling artists who dominated the scene in foundational times girded their production over the landscape and the genre scenes, with whom they took their European public a more direct imaginary of this distant lands.
Therefore, early still-lifes, as organic manifestations of the gender in the national art are found in the second half of the nineteenth century. Artists based in Buenos Aires, as the Italians Ignacio Manzoni and Luigi Novarese, responded with some of his works to an incipient demand even more inclined to portrait. We had to await the arrival in 1861 of the Italian Epaminondas Chiama to consolidate this process.
It was this artist who warned in early fortunes arising from increased immigration a strong desire to enrich their homes with works of this type. And that was how dining rooms at many new houses, toward the twentieth century, were transformed the village in town, knew of Chiana paintings.
In them, sometimes under the order of its clients, the artist included a "horn of abundance" various fruits of the nature, so rich in these fertile lands, as well as birds and hares, game products, and fish in our rivers. More demanding, other clients required to Chiama the introduction of elements of clear symbolism, as candlesticks with lighted candles (wisdom), gold coins (richness), flowers (life), bread (to exorcise hunger), various tools (work) etc.
Still-life acted like that on the eve of a new century, as a sort of "votive" secular, often joined on homes walls with religious images of family devotion.
Later in the century, this mercy component of still-life was being forgotten, while its practitioners, to go independent from previous ordess gave another direction to his works.
Artists of La Boca, represented by José Luis Menghi, reflected in his paintings the humble universe that ran their lives, and composed their works with elements of everyday modesty. Spoon and onions were them often enough reasons to create paintings of sublime climate.
Names like Adam Pedemonte, the Bulgarian Ivan Vasileff, Gaston Jarry, Doria Santilli, the Valencian Juan Orihuel, and happily active Lola Frexas are some of the artists that offer today a quick overview of still-life in our environment.
Adrian Gualdoni Basualdo
July, 2010.
