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Transcending Stillness: A Reflection on Life's Journey

Gather items reflecting individuals or social issues you care about; create a still-life painting capturing their essence or social significance. Explore the rise of still-life art in urbanized societies and its symbolism. Learn from Dutch still-life masters like Claesz and Post-Impressionist trailblazers like Cézanne. Draw inspiration from E. Nancy Stevens, an artist who delves into the depths of existence through her work. Education and iconography enrich understanding of art's storytelling power.

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Transcending Stillness: A Reflection on Life's Journey

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  1. A Life Stilled In Transit - Isobel, 1999. acrylic on masonite. 106.7 x 48.2 cm

  2. Project Plan • Select an individual or social issue that means a great deal to you: • Relative, Friend, World Leader • Poverty, Health, Violence, Environment, etc • Gather items that represent that person/issue • The physical items are preferable over a photo or internet image • Create a still-life that captures that person’s character, moment in their life, or message of social importance

  3. History • Still-life painting as an independent genre first flourished in the Netherlands during the early 1600s • The rise of still-life painting in the Northern and Spanish Netherlands reflects the increasing urbanization of Dutch and Flemish society • Response: Why would increased urbanization result in a rise in still-life? • Citation: The Metropolis Museum of Art • Liedtke, Walter. "Still-Life Painting in Northern Europe, 1600–1800 ". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nstl/hd_nstl.htm (October 2003)

  4. Example: Dutch Still-life • One of the earliest dated still lifes by Claesz. • A Haarlem painter who gave extraordinary presence to familiar things. • “Here a skull, an overturned glass roemer, an expired lamp, and the attributes of a writer, suggest that worldly efforts are ultimately in vain.” • Response: What about these details “suggest that worldly efforts are ultimately in vain”? • Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill, 1628Pieter Claesz (Dutch)Oil on wood; 24.1 x 35.9 cmRogers Fund, 1949

  5. Example: Post-Impressionist Still-life • Cézanne‘s unique methods influenced the art of Cubists, Fauvists, and successive generations of avant-garde artists. • Instead of light and shadow, he experimented with subtly gradated colour variations to create dimension in his objects. • Ignores the laws of classical perspective, allowing each object to be independent within the space of a picture • The Metropolis Museum of Art • Voorhies, James. "Paul Cézanne (1839–1906)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pcez/hd_pcez.htm (October 2004) • Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses, 1890. Paul Cézanne (French,)Oil on canvas; 73 x 92.4 cm. Bequest of Sam A. Lewisohn, 1951

  6. Inspiration: E. Nancy Stevens • “IN TRANSIT is my autobiography. The paintings and drawings, ideas and images, are an exploration of the nature of experience and the unknowables of existence.” • From “Description of Exhibit” http://www.enancystevens.ca • In Transit – Edith, 1999, acrylic on masonite, 106.7 x 48.2cm

  7. E. Nancy Stevens • Nancy Stevens switches between realism and abstraction, but all her work is about ordering experience. • Her father died during the Second World War. “A lot of things happened in my early life, so order is how I coped” • http://thechronicleherald.ca/thenovascotian/1162697-at-the-galleries-order-imagination-unite-in-stevens-artwork

  8. Education/Training • Studied with Alex Colville at Mount Allison University (1953-56). Mary Pratt was a fellow student and friend. • Year of study in Montreal with Arthur Lismerof the Group of Seven • Worked as a graphic artist doing illustrative promotions at the CBC • Taught at NSCAD from 1990-97 STFX from 1996- recent retirement Arthur Lismer, “Bright Lands”, 1938 Alex Colville, “Horse and Train”, 1954 Mary Pratt, “Bowl’dBanana “, 1981

  9. Iconography in “William” • Book: Canadians in Khaki = he fought in the Boer War • Railway watch = his work for CNR • Spoon = souvenir from his travels as a youth • Apple = wisdom, knowledge, goodness • Citation: McElroy, Gil. “Falling From Grace” Nancy Stevens: In-Transit. Charlottetown: Confederation Centre Art Gallery & Museum, 2001, p.13 • In Transit – William, 1999, acrylic on masonite, 106.7 x 48.2cm

  10. Iconography in “An Apple A Day” • Apple = Christian and educational values • Chocolate = wealth, gluttony, corruption of the healthy apple • Apple sticker = number of dead in the earthquake. Our consumption of this tragedy. • Copper fork = Chile’s main export • Glass objects = a glass wall through which the apples view the Chilean earthquake; the voyeuristic distance. • Knife = violence aimed towards the “outside world” • Newspaper = sensationalization of world events • Ryan Josey. An Apple a Day, 2010, oil on canvas. ~16x20 • http://www.ednet.ns.ca/pdfdocs/curriculum/Artists_in_Schools_2011-12-Broch.pdf

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