Hierarchy of Art

For several centuries, people concerned with art and aesthetics ranked the genres of painting as follows (high to low):

• History painting, which involves depictions of both documented historical events but also allegory, religious and mythological subjects.
• Portraiture
• Genre paintings, defined as scenes of everyday life. These were very popular in the Dutch Golden Age, for example works by Adriaen Brouwer.
• Landscape paintings
  
• Animal paintings, including all sorts of images, like George Stubbs' paintings of horses.
• Still life

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, "Rest on the Flight Into Egypt," oil, 1597 --a history painting

Adriaen Brouwer, "The Bitter Draught," oil, ca 1635, a genre scene

Those advocating such a hierarchy thought that the knowledge and intellectual effort involved in the highest ranking art--history paintings--required intellect and refinement, while others like landscapes and still life were simply copies of the world. The fundamental idea seems to have been re-casting painting as an art on par with the liberal arts. Until then painters and sculptors were considered craftsmen rather than artists. Ranking subject matter--history above all--persisted in art into the late 19th century. 

At the dawn of the 20th century a full-scale revolution against the conventions of academic art raged widely. One of the casualties of the succession of "isms" from Impressionism on was the near-demise of history painting and the rise of portraits and landscapes. Genre paintings moved into the commercial field of advertising, for the most part. Still life and landscape became more and more popular, and portraiture became more important even with the rise of photography.

Henri Fantin-Latour, "Flowers and Fruit," oil, 1866

It's easy to set up a still life just by grabbing things lying about. The subjects are always there, ready for attention unless you've chosen perishables. Everything from lighting to positions is controllable. Further, although still life has been considered to occupy the lowest rung aesthetically, the content of still life paintings can be profound. One special area of still life known as "vanitas" for example, comments on the evanescence of life. Others might be statements on how we live or on history. Some of course are mostly decorative, like the floral works of Henri Fantin-Latour who was exceptionally successful in the 19th century.

Pieter Claesz, "Still Life with Skull and Quill," oil, 1628

As is the case with many beginners, my first works were still life, although none of those has survived. I still make still life paintings when the mood strikes. 

Hoff, "Alone," oil on panel, 2005

Hoff, "Triptych," oil, 2011