and figures, they are essentially still-lifes.
Still-life as a genre strikes me as intimate,
and also strangely honest in its overt contrivance.
There is no pretense of the artist having
discovered or accidentally observed the scene
at hand; the tableau is clearly arranged as well
as represented, by the painter. If painting is a
medium which tends to stress the subjective,
still-life painting seems to me to be uniquely
suited to convey a personal, idiosyncratic vision.
