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| Lumière Brothers Lilacs ca. 1898 autochrome Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
This is a group of posed objects. They are disposed, for the most part, on level indoor surfaces. What unites them is the absence of human beings, even while the recent presence of human beings is absolutely implied in every case. Nobody can look at any deliberate arrangement of anything for very long without wondering about the arranger. So these pictures of things are also pictures of human presence, but a presence expressed through its immediate absence.
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| Pieter Steenwijck Vanitas ca. 1635-40 oil on canvas Prado |
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| Anne Vallayer-Coster Vase of flowers and conch shell 1780 oil on canvas Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Anne Valleyer-Coster (1744-1818) exhibited the flower piece above (or one very like it) at the Paris Salon of 1781. Diderot at the end of his life praised her work, and he was a critic whose praise was never casually bestowed. She painted for the Bourbons before the Revolution and for Napoleon afterwards. The little conch with its amazing red highlights surely is entitled to stand up right this minute and articulate its claim to be recognized as the absolute Platonic paradigm of all painted seashells.
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| Sebastian Stoskopff Still life with nautilus, panther shell, and chip-wood box ca. 1630 oil on canvas Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Pierre Auguste Renoir Bouquet of chrysanthemums 1881 oil on canvas Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Giorgio Morandi Still life with bottle 1949 drawing Clark Art Institute |
Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) drew Still life with bottle in 1949. His work was unfavorably, even harshly regarded by the Fascist officials who ran things in Italy during much of his adult life. In the very middle of World War II, critic Giovanni Scheiwiller felt himself called upon to defend the artist. "No, illustrious censors, a still life can move us because of its intrinsic qualities, for its emotional intensity and for inexplicable mysterious reasons. ... No, Morandi's paintings are not – as they are so often recklessly described – "the most authentic expression of artistic impotence" – rather his works document the triumph of the spirit over materialism. ... Morandi is among the few privileged artists with the capacity to produce paintings of pure poetry."
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| Fernand Khnopff Hortensia 1884 oil on canvas Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| Andries Benedetti Table with desserts ca. 1650 oil on canvas Prado |
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| Gabriel de la Corte Mask with tulips and roses ca. 1690-94 oil on canvas Prado |
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| attributed to Michel Bruno Bellengé Vase of flowers in a niche late 18th century oil on canvas Metropolitan Museum of Art |
The battered gilt frame above is a trompe l'oeil illusion surrounding the illusionary marble niche in this over-door painting recently attributed to Michel Bruno Bellengé. The orderly disarray of the flowers themselves and their apparent weightlessness, the peculiar flat blue-green of the vase, and the playful presentation of the "damaged" frame – all these accord with the taste of Versailles in its final phase under Marie Antoinette.
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| Pedro de Camprobín Pink roses ca. 1640-60 oil on canvas Prado |
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| Jan Brueghel the Elder Tulips and roses early 17th century oil on canvas Prado |
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| Aubert Parent Vase of flowers with wildlife and vines 1789 Carved limewood relief Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Grinling Gibbons Cravat ca. 1690 carved limewood Victoria & Albert Museum |
Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) carved the wooden cravat above in imitation of Venetian needlepoint lace. It served no practical purpose except to showcase his miraculous level of technical ability and his wit. In the mid-18th century the object belonged to Horace Walpole and was on display at Strawberry Hill. Curators at the Victoria & Albert Museum repeat a story that Horace Walpole actually wore the cravat in 1769 to receive "distinguished French, Spanish and Portuguese visitors."