Silent Stillness

Western still life is growing in popularity and collectors are taking notice of this popular genre.

By John O’Hern

Ancient Greek still life paintings and mosaics contained representations of poultry, game, fruit and vegetables, indicating the gifts that wealthy hosts would provide for their guests.

The phrase “still life” comes from the French nature mort, which translates literally as “dead nature.” Translated more liberally as “still life,” it denotes a picture of inanimate objects.LewAllen Galleries, Shadow Flight, oil on panel, 49¾ x 48”, by William Shepherd.

After the simple representation of offerings in ancient Greece, still lifes began to be burdened with symbols suggesting the ephemeral nature of life as well as that of the vegetables and flowers themselves.

The great Italian still life painter Giorgio Morandi depicted the objects themselves, as they were. He wrote, “I believe that nothing can be more abstract, more unreal, than what we actually see. We know that all we can see of the objective world, as human beings, never really exists as we see and understand it. Matter exists, of course, but has no intrinsic meaning of its own, such as the meanings that we attach to it. We can know only that a cup is a cup, that a tree is a tree.”

In his still life paintings, William Shepherd paints what he calls a “visual harmony.” Common objects, often displaying the scars of use, are sometimes accompanied by kitschy trinkets that he collects along with objects of great beauty. His arrangements reveal his love of the American West where he grew up and where he lives. Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Andy Dialog #293, oil on canvas, 24 x 24”, by Mel Smothers.

Shadow Flight suggest that the still life is far from still. Non-material shadows move across the wall, overlapping with other shadows making them denser, almost becoming substance. A Hopi cylinder vase and a woven Hopi sash are contrasts in color and texture with reflections of clay and metal between them. The richness and veracity of the objects is obtained sometimes with 30 layers of glazes in an individual painting. The objects glow with a life that recalls their making and their use, relate harmoniously within the composition and, together, transcend their mundane utility.Legacy Gallery, Hopi Artifacts, acrylic, 16 x 12”, by Rock Newcomb

Elizabeth Robbins, Autumn Beauties, oil on linen, 24 x 24”

Mel Smothers grew up in the world of Pop Art and studied with Wayne Thiebaud at UC Davis. Moving to New York he began painting dialogs with the king of Pop Art, Andy Warhol, in a series of works he called I Painted Over Andy Warhol. Where Warhol’s works are often mass-produced, Smothers’ works are about painting. Warhol had produced 10 silkscreen prints in his Cowboys and Indians series in a commentary on iconic figures of the American West. His General Custer is based on an 1865 photograph of the Union Army officer during the Civil War. Custer was known as the “top Indian fighter” but was killed in the Battle of Little Bighorn along with his nearly 270 soldiers when they fought several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne Warriors.

Warhol added bright color to his interpretation of the 19th-century photograph, possibly in reference to the colorful reputation Custer had gained before and after his death. Over time, however, his arrogance and the increasing awareness of his mistreatment of Native Americans tarnished the image. Smothers portrays just the outline of Custer in Andy Dialog #293, overlaid by four arrows and a sherd of Native pottery. The arrows are in flight, seemingly raised off the canvas by the simple device of painted shadows.Sorrel Sky Gallery, Woolies and Winchesters, acrylic, 48 x 30”, by Lisa Danielle

Legacy Gallery, Red Hawk, mixed media collage with monotype, 16 x 12”, by Stan Davis

Lisa Danielle is another Westerner, born in California, and now painting and horseback riding near Sedona, Arizona. Her still life paintings depict objects from the past, both artifacts of the working cowboys who have lived on working ranches in Arizona and of nearby Indigenous tribes.

In Woolies and Winchesters a vintage rifle advertisement hangs on the wall featuring a cowgirl with her rifle and lariat, and wearing her winter woolies—chaps with fur on the outside for warmth and protection from brush. A Winchester with a decorated stock, woolies and a lariat are arranged next to the framed illustration. Dramatically lit from the side, Danielle portrays the variety of textures in the smooth wood and brass of the rifle, the braid of the lariat and the rich variety of the long-haired wool.

She says, “More mystery than answers arise as history is revealed, and I hope to convey that by the dramatic light and shadow that surround my subjects.”Lisa Danielle, Buffalo Medicine, acrylic, 24 x 12”

In the pages of this special section, we explore several galleries and artists that specialize in Western still life. Enjoy their artwork in this inaugural special section devoted to this popular genre.

At Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, artists like Gayle Nason and Rock Newcomb are creating beautiful still life pieces that offer examples of objects from throughout the West. “Gayle Nason’s love for the Southwest and her fascination with the historical legacy of its Native people has added a new dimension to her still life paintings. Deeply moved by the spiritual heritage of the American Indian and led by her diligence for perfection,” the gallery notes. “Growing up in the rural Idaho, Rock Newcomb developed an early love and respect for nature and the environment. Impressed by the beauty of his surroundings, he began drawing at a very young age. Subjects include Western artifacts, historic and prehistoric; Native Americans and cowboys; various still life; landscapes and wildlife.”Elizabeth Robbins, A Moment in Time, oil on linen, 20 x 24”

Another artist whose work appears in the gallery is Stan Davis, who was raised far away from the West. “Raised in Florida, Stan Davis searched the beaches as a child for pre-Colombian arrowheads and pottery shards,” the gallery says. “In 1979, he decided to paint Native American-themed art after a trip to art galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona. To ensure historical and cultural accuracy, Davis makes every costume used in his paintings. When selecting a still life piece, make sure it is something that draws you in enough to stand the test of time.”Lisa Danielle, Evolving Traditions, acrylic, 36 x 36”

Elizabeth Robbins turns her attention to classical still life subjects, but she paints them with lively compositions and gorgeous light. “Flowers have always been a part of my life. When I was 10 years old, I would pick flowers and make shadow boxes and sell them to our neighbors. My grandmothers would walk me along our mountain paths and point out all the different wildflowers that grew in our area,” Robbins says. “These memories have stuck with me and have inspired me to create my own gardens with over 100 rosebushes, many peonies, daylilies as well as fruit trees. Being able to grow something so beautiful and then bring that into my studio to capture that moment on canvas has been a joy. Collecting floral still life can bring sunshine and good energy into your home.”Legacy Gallery, Colors of Autumn, oil, 18 x 36”, by Gayle Nason

Elizabeth Robbins, Aspen Leaves and Pumpkin, oil on linen, 24 x 20”

Turning to more Western paintings is Lisa Danielle, who uses subjects such as cattle skulls, Native American objects and pueblo pottery. “While not a portrait painter per se, my paintings of objects, some used or created by hand, are often most revealing of who that soul was in life,” Danielle says. “These things that outlast us speak volumes about our values or our aesthetics to those who seek to know who we were as individuals or a culture. Stories of lives well lived by those who ‘walked in beauty,’ as the Navajo put it, are the essence of what I hope to leave behind. Collectors of my work, or this genre in general, should always listen to what their heart resonates to: objects that speak to their soul even if they do not completely understand their history or use, or a story that somehow reflects their own journey. Those pieces will stand the test of time as they make it a part of their own story.”