Baroque still lifes have always amazed me with their incredible detail of every millimeter of the canvas (or board) and the piling up on the table of a large number of all sorts of bizarre objects. All this, in turn, was listed in detail in the extremely verbose titles of the paintings.
Looking at their work, I could not understand how it is possible to write out each petal, scale and drop so smoothly, clearly and accurately. What incredible patience and perseverance was necessary for this! And all this, judging by the characteristic gloomy background, was done in the faint and flickering light of wax candles. I can’t say that medieval still lifes delight me like painting, but the process of their creation causes deep respect.
To fully understand the process, I decided to try it myself. Modesty did not allow me to aim at the still lifes of Jan Brueghel the Elder (Velvet) – my choice fell on the work of his follower – Isaak Soreau (Germany, 1604 – after 1645) and his baroque “Still life of fruit and flowers with grapes in a wicker basket, blackberries in a porcelain bowl and tulips in a glass vase on the right ” (oil on wood panel, 60 x 83 cm, private collection).
When studying the details of the painting by Isaak Soreau, it immediately became clear that a full-size replica is impossible – there will not be enough patience and strength. As a result, I limited myself to only the right third of a still life. As a result of such cuts, “blackberries on a porcelain dish” disappeared from my canvas, as well as cherries, hazelnuts and other little things. But even the remaining tulips were more than enough for a complete immersion in the world of flower still lifes of the Golden Age.
Work began in the summer of 2021 and was completed only in 2022. Never before have I painted such a multi-layered painting with a tiny №1 brush.
Now I finally understand why Pablo Picasso, Van Gogh and Claude Monet were able to become such prolific artists. They realized in time that they should paint quickly, sharply and with large brush strokes.
Oil on canvas, 50×50, 2022
