Still Life with Cheese 1853 - 1900

Antoine Vollon made this still life with oil on canvas, showing us cheese, onions, and other foods. It's at the Met in New York, but Vollon was a French painter. Consider the role of the art academy in 19th century France. It prescribed what was considered high and low subject matter. History painting was at the top, still life at the bottom. But painters like Vollon made still life a vehicle for bravura brushwork. Think of it as a painterly challenge to the academy. In this work, the careful arrangement of ordinary objects elevates them, making them worthy of our attention. In doing so, does Vollon challenge academic hierarchies? Historical sources like exhibition reviews from the time can help us understand how contemporary audiences viewed this work. What did it mean to see humble food depicted with such skill and care? Art is never made in a vacuum. It always comments on the social structures of its own time.