The Art of Still Life:
Going back to the Source
Most still life painters of today excel at - and are proud of - creating a maximum of detail. But their works often lack unity and visually fall apart as mere conglomerates of well-painted individual objects. For inspiration it is better to turn to the old masters, than to contemporary artists.
Living in Amsterdam Urban Larsson is spiritually and physically close to the great Dutch still life paintings created in the 17th century. Many hours he spent studying these masterworks in the museums of the Netherlands.
His foremost examples are however not of Dutch origin. One of them is the 18th century painter Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, (1699-1779). Be it that this French artist was greatly influenced by the paintings from the Dutch ‘Golden Age’. For Larsson, Chardin’s still lifes exemplify almost everything of what he cherishes in this genre, but also in painting as such.
From a more recent past he greatly admires the minimalism of the Italian painter Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964). Larsson’s many nearly mono-chrome still lifes with vases and other earthware are certainly influenced by this master from Bologna. In spirit they share the same intention, but their treatment of form and their drawing is obviously different.