From Library Journal
An art historian and currently director of the city art museum of Dresden, Ebert-Schifferer has compiled a sweeping overview of the still life in Western art, from antiquity to the present. Her oversize volume (11" x 13") is composed of large reproductions (338 in all, 278 in color) interspersed amid a chronological text. There is an interesting chapter on the evolution of 19th-century American works as reflections of the young democracy's values (though the author is especially given to generalizations here); a fine introduction to the birth of the subject in Greco-Roman mosaics and its resurfacing via Renaissance genre painting; and a solid, historical take on artists' use of the theme in modern and contemporary works (though it cannot compare in ambition or complexity of thought to MOMA's Objects of Desire: The Modern Still Life, LJ 10/1/97). Nearly half of the text, however, is given to 17th- and 18th-century European works. These remain popular favorites, and Ebert-Schifferer is at her best here, blending pictorial analysis and delineation's of art historical progress. Overall, this beautiful work is a fine addition to any library.AEric Bryant, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
The enduring power of the still life resides in a paradox: life is never still. These meticulous arrangements of succulent fruit, luminous flowers, fish out of water, broken-necked fowl, and bowls, plates, and vases of china, pewter, and glass seem to promise sensuous delights and nourishment, but they are actually images of transition--of life on the brink of decay. Each still life is emblematic of a specific time and place and of a certain metaphysical perspective. German art historian Ebert-Schifferer presents the long and fascinating history of this complex genre in a detailed and gracefully interpretative narrative that stretches from ancient Greek and Roman mosaics to twentieth-century paintings. She analyzes the glistening accuracy of sixteenth-and seventeenth-century Italian and Dutch paintings, the explosion of flower paintings that followed, and more somber works evincing a keen awareness of mortality as grapes and tulips pull the eye away from insects, lizards, and skulls. Ebert-Schifferer muses on the still-life painter's inherent "desire to deceive the viewer" and explicates the symbolism of various objects and tableaus. This comprehensive, articulate, and beautifully produced volume may well become a standard in the field. Donna Seaman
