Still Life Evaluation of Celadon Pots and Flowers

Celadon flowerpot flower still life (Netherlands) Deheim (1606 ~ 1654)

(oil painting) (now in the Ashmuran Art Museum, Oxford, England)

Since the Dutch people achieved national independence, the theme of painting has not only been confined to aristocrats and churches, but also extended to the life of citizens. As some scholars said in their works, "Dutch painting is an art to describe the face of this class itself." Under this condition, Dutch still life painting came into being. Painting still life has also been endowed with people's feelings and customs. Like portraits and genre paintings, it has become a symbolic ornamental art that people are scrambling to buy. Tim is an outstanding representative of this period.

His early works are simple in composition and deep in color but not rich. Some changes have taken place in his later still life paintings. The original simplicity was replaced by later decorative elements, and he began to accept the influence of baroque painting style. His still life paintings, such as fruits, metal plates and wine glasses, are rich in texture and colorful, and he often prefers to highlight still life in front of a dry dark background, such as this still life with celadon pots and flowers. Still life is real and delicate, and the light sense and texture are just right. Especially the peeled lemon, a detail that is rarely noticed, adds a bit of association and speculation to the audience. It also makes us more aware that still life painting is not a lifeless painting, it also contains traces and breath of people, but it is in a relatively static state of life. All these show the painter's keen insight into life, superb realistic skills and inner understanding of the essence of life, so that ordinary objects and details in life are fixed as the eternity of art.