ARTT 033D. Painting II: Still Life Painting

In this advanced oil painting course we will turn toward the still life genre as a basis for formal experimentation with color, composition, value, texture, and touch. We will also study the still life as a system of representation reflecting relationships between society and the material world. Selecting and arranging a wide variety of natural and fabricated objects (flowers, fruit, garments, books, tools, toys, trash, baskets, bowls …), we will confront ideas of austerity and opulence, and explore such themes as stillness, ephemerality, and the certainty of death. Over the course of the semester, formal exercises and thematic assignments will build toward increasingly independent painting projects. We will take one museum field trip and (at least) one object-gathering field trip, and we will have opportunities to engage directly with contemporary painters who are working within-and often subverting-traditions of still life painting.

Prerequisite: Prerequisite: Painting I or by permission of the instructor.

Art and Humanities.
1 credit.
Spring 2026. Capanna.
Catalog chapter: Art
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/art

Access the class schedule to search for sections.