Our new series ‘Icons’ presents extraordinary masterpieces from celebrated 20th-Century artists and groundbreaking creations direct from the studios of leading contemporary artists.

‘Still Life’ (2024) is a remarkable example of Nicolas Party’s alluring, imaginative still lifes. Party breathes new vivacity into this important historical genre, borrowing aesthetic flourishes from European masters such as Rachel Ruysch and Jan van Kessel.

Rendered in his trademark soft pastel, ‘Still Life’ exemplifies Party’s unique visual language, which uses art historical references to transform everyday objects into abstracted forms imbued with hidden meaning.

Party has achieved critical admiration for his familiar yet unsettling landscapes, portraits, and still lifes that simultaneously celebrate and challenge conventions of representational painting.

Party works almost exclusively in pastel, connecting with a lineage that can be traced back to Rosalba Carriera, who popularized the medium during the Rococo period. Employing his hands and fingers as tools, he massages the material into the canvas, a tactile approach that is both fast and versatile. 

This September, the artist will open a solo exhibition at Hoam Museum of Art in Korea.