Still-Life: Metaphors of Vital Daily Objects in the Context of Art

​

In this book, although the author presents the art history of the West chronologically in the scope of the still-life painting genre in general and foods and drinks in particular, and she traces the visual history of the topic by following styles and movements that have changed in the still-life genre since the first ages, the main purpose here is to take on the general issue over typical examples emphasizing what is secondary and indicating transformations associated with secondaries in the dichotomies of mind-body and male-female in the context of the dilemmas of the modern age.

 

Since the first examples of still-life painting, there has been an almost constant interest in foods. Our acts of eating-drinking, which are seen as an ordinary behavior of daily life, not only have vital significance for our survival but also provide a substantial resource for us to examine the multifaceted aspects of human experience. The fact that tradition has deemed the mind and what is cognitive to be superior to the body and emotions that are associated with the body and the increasingly more prominent emphasis on this approach in the modern age resulted in the emergence of a set of criteria and value judgments. In this sense, daily life, which is where what is ordinary belongs, has been considered of lower value than the intricate products of culture that require deliberate effort and labor such as science, art, and philosophy.

 

In parallel with the same approach, still-life art, which was taken on as an independent style in the seventeenth century, excluded the human figure and involved the portrayal of inanimate objects or tangible property, has been set at the lowest step in the academic hierarchy. The primary purpose on which theoretical issues that have placed still-life painting at the lowest rank have focused is the emphasis that painting belongs to the fine arts. The thesis proposed here is that the role of the artist must be different than that of ordinary craftspeople. Accordingly, the artist must take part in abstract thoughts that are based on one’s imagination or intuition.