Genetic Criticism and the Study of Laura Letinsky, Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin and Vincent van Gogh’s Still Lifes

Genetic criticism mainly focuses on “Avant-texte(s)” and analyses the preparatory documents rather than the final and published texts or works of art. Having originated in literary studies, the approach is also used in visual art studies, thus, it can be used in studying the ways in which a work of art (as a text) is created. The following essay focuses on the works and drafts of three artists, Laura Letinsky, a contemporary photographer and the paintings of Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin and Vincent van Gogh’s still lifes. The still life genre is the shared joint subject matter of this study. The drafts and the contexts in which the works are created are mentioned and categorized based on Bahman Namvar Motlagh and Allah- Shokr Asadollahi’s. The case studies, explore aspects that are crucial to the process of artistic creation of the artworks such as personal conditions and social contexts that have influenced the artists and their art-making practices. In final section of the essay, the collected data will be presented as three tables —- each table representing one of the selected artists — based on the introduced classification of the drafts.