Still life with vintage objects

One of the early works of the artist, filled with deep philosophical overtones, reflecting the cycle of life and the transience of earthly existence. All perishable. All is vanity... To such problems in the XVII century for the first time addressed the Dutch painters (P. van der Willige, M. Vichos, J. van Strek) in his allegorical still lifes, Vanitas (vanitas – "vanity", "vanity", "frailty"), destined for the reminder about the futility of pleasure and the inevitability of death. Painting A. Selitsky is a continuation of this subject, revealing its other side. We see completely ordinary everyday items, and symbolic value which are detected in conjunction with human activities: dry the flowers accidentally left in a clay jar, the key, forgotten in the old door lock, gold bulbs on a wooden table, an old cloth in a wicker basket, grass, filtering through the old wood walls... In every thing living invisibly pulse time, energy of life, which make "still life with vintage objects" undeniable materiality and physicality. Thoughtful compositional arrangement of objects, strict adherence to the proportions, color harmony, master transitions of light and shadow, the vivacity and richness of shades give the picture of wholeness, balance, completeness. All together gives depicted on canvas a special symbolic sound that characterizes strong, orderly life, its wisdom and completeness. A similar approach to the interpretation of the plot met in the still-life W-B. S. Chardin ("the Kitchen table", "still life with attributes of the arts (both 1766), and I. F. Khrutsky ("Flowers and fruits" (1838), "Fruit and candle" (1839). Subtle lyricism, warmth and naturalness emanating from the picture show, first and foremost, a deeply personal and special attitude to A. Selitskiy depicted subjects that are a reflection of the whole layer of historical and cultural heritage of Belarus. "Still life with vintage objects" rightly belongs to the best samples of modern classical art, in which skill and professionalism of the performers in harmony with the sincerity and spontaneity of the author's statements.

K. S. Selitsky-Tkachev, the critic