STILL LIFE, WITH MUCH TO SAY DUE TO VELAZQUEZ’ GENIUS
With all his expertise and the almost perfect strength of the line of his art, where realism gains new names, Diego Velazquez began creating his own Still Life; that kind of art of the Sevillian Costumbrism that up until then, was classified as a minor art, acquiring a new dimension, one that the master was entitling with his genius, that’s the reason why Velazquez’s Still Life is the milestone of the Universal Painting.
Beyond the Still Life
Velazquez’ Seville was the land of plenty, due to the monopoly of the commerce with the colonies that had turned it into a very agitated and thriving city. Even so, the painter goes beyond the moment and add the human figure to his Death Nature Still Life, as a sublime criticism, where poor people is sneered, while on the table remains few provisions. He didn’t reproduce abundant feasts, is more inclined towards the humble guests; and maybe is this quality in his art that immortalizes him.
Still Life in the work of Velazquez
Velazquez paints his Still Life between 1617 and 1623, before he turns to be the painter at the court and moves to Madrid. By that moment of his life, he enjoyed the long conversations with his father in law and mentor, Pacheco, who introduced him to the Sevillian cultural world. By then, Velazquez could assume the Still Life works as much freer projects than those assigned to him, which allows us to observe some of the characteristics of the Costumbrist Impressionism.
Velazquez’ Major Still Life Art include: “The Waterseller of Seville”, “Old Woman Cooking Eggs”, “Christ in the House of Martha and Mary”, “The Three Musicians”, among others.
