Julien Lischka’s unconventional journey reveals a quest for balance between rigor and emotion. After training in mathematics, the artist chose to turn to artistic practice and joined the Institut Supérieur des Arts Appliqués in Strasbourg.
In his works, Julien Lischka explores universal themes such as the passage of time, memory, and solitude while focusing on everyday and intimate subjects. He notably revisits the classical genre of still life with a delicate modernity. Through simple objects, often taken from his daily life, such as flowers, a glass vase, or an open book, he captures suspended moments where the banal becomes sublime. Still life emerged as an independent genre in the 17th century, first in the Netherlands and then throughout Europe. Like Dutch painters, he grants a major role to light in a quest for the perfect moment. The sensitivity to reflections and shadows recalls the work of Dutch painter Willem Claesz. Heda and Flemish artist Willem Kalf, both of whom excelled in rendering light reflecting on metallic or glass surfaces. Julien Lischka’s work unfolds over time: he patiently waits for reflections and shadows to merge into a soft, poetic atmosphere that magnifies the objects he depicts. On this subject, Fernando Pessoa observed, “Things don’t have a meaning : they have an existence.” Thus, the everyday objects, flowers, and fruits represented by Julien Lischka have a life of their own and come to life through his brush. Like the great masters of the 17th century, the artist demonstrates a remarkable mastery of oil painting, combined with an almost photographic precision that lends his works great refinement. The finesse and precision of his floral compositions also echo the meticulousness of Golden Age still life painters. In Filles du Vent, the contrast of the bouquet against a black background particularly evokes the work of Dutch painter Ambrosius Bosschaert, renowned for his scientific and botanical precision.
However, Julien Lischka does not limit himself to still lifes and explores other artistic genres, such as landscape painting, which he reinterprets with his contemporary vision. This subject allows him to express his fascination with light in another way. Strongly inspired by the unique clarity of Californian landscapes, he captures the cinematic atmosphere of the region, bathed in a light that seems to both reveal and conceal. The modern architecture of a gas station, the light of a setting sun, or a deserted swimming pool bathed in reflections become silent protagonists in paintings that explore the solitude and melancholy of urban landscapes. Though devoid of human figures, his compositions subtly suggest their presence through delicate plays of light reflections. Victor Hugo once said, “Things and beings engage in a great dialogue” (Les Contemplations, 1856). The precision of water reflections and the simplicity of rectilinear decor also recall the work of David Hockney, British by origin but likewise strongly inspired by Californian villas and swimming pools.
