Guy Diehl
Still Life with Zurbaran, 2005
Jacquard tapestry w/touchup fabric paint (by artist)
70 x 80 in.
edition of 8

Guy Diehl’s deftly executed still lifes testify to a refined set of formal principles deeply rooted in historical tradition. Diehl’s website offers this comment from the artist:

“My current work comes from a desire to pursue and explore the legacy of still life painting. I do this through the study of art history and the physical process of painting. The classical aspect of composition and the tradition of still life, infused with my own perspective, is my primary goal. My ideas of art-about-art have become the focus of my work.”

In Still Life with Zurbaran, Diehl pays homage to one of his greatest formal influences: the 17th-century Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbaran. By confronting the viewer with a contemporary still life in the form of a traditional tapestry, depicting a contemporary book of paintings by an artist working 400 years ago, Diehl sets up an intriguing relationship between media and artists that spans centuries.