Still Life

Still life is a genre of painting that depicts inanimate objects. While decorative still-life subjects appeared in antiquity, it emerged as an independent genre during the Renaissance. Early examples often symbolized mortality or the cycle of nature. The 16th and 17th centuries saw the rise of still-life painting due to increased interest in realistic representation, a growing middle class desiring home decor, and a demand for secular subjects following the Reformation.1

Le Corbusier, a Swiss architect and city planner, was also a painter who, along with Amédée Ozenfant, developed the art movement known as Purism. Purism, a variant of Cubism, advocated for a return to clear, ordered forms inspired by the machine age. Le Corbusier's painting Still Life (1920) exemplifies Purism with its limited color palette of neutrals and monochromes, smooth application of paint for objectivity, and rhythmic contours of objects like a guitar and bottle. This style influenced his architectural designs, characterized by functionalism and bold, sculptural expressionism.23