Still Life – Before and After

Still life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber, 1602 
Artist: Juan Sanchez Cotán 
Art Collection: San Diego Museum of Art 
Image: Wikimedia Commons 

The artwork is done by the Spanish artist Juan Sánches Cotán in year 1602. It represents traditional still life painting, and the vegetables and fruits are meticulously and realistically painted. The athmosphere is both calm and expectant, the foreground is lit by a bright light, and the background is but a black void. We have chosen this artwork because it is an essential part of art history, and many modern still lives are based upon 17th century paintings. In addition, the vegetables and fruits are recognizable and can be found on our kitchen tables still this day. 

Still life with blackening apples, 1944 
Artist: Helene Schjerfbeck 
Art Collection: Didrichsen Art Museum 
Image: Didrichsen Art Museum 

The still life is painted by Helene Schjerfbeck in 1944. Depicted in it we can see rounded, outlined forms in bright colors, placed on a surface against a green background. The colors of the rounded forms look as if they are spreading and melting into the surrounding, erasing boundaries and forms. The name of the painting is the only thing revealing that the subject matter is apples. We have chosen this work because it is painted by a a well known and loved artist, because the work represents modernism, a turning point between old and new, and it illustrates both figurative and abstract imagery. Schjerfbeck was over 80 years old while painting the artwork and it touches subjects such as autumn, ageing and the cycle of life. 

Non-plant, 1977 
Artist: Ernst Meter-Borgström 
Art Collection: Sara Hildén Foundation 
Image: Sara Hildén Art Museum © Kuvasto 2025 

Non-plant is a painting by Ernst Mether-Borgström from 1977. The artwork is non-figurative and represents concrete art. Essential in the painting is the colors, lines, surfaces and geometrical forms. It has no other meaning than itself. We have chosen the work for our project precisely for those reasons, it is stripped from meanings, and also because of the interesting title, as if the theme for the painting at some earlier point was a plant, but changed into something else. The athmosphere is light and joyful. In our project this is the newest still life, though it will soon be 50 years old.