Background
Pieter Claesz was born in 1597 in Berchem, Antwerp, Belgium.
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Pieter Claesz was born in 1597 in Berchem, Antwerp, Belgium.
Claesz’s teacher is unknown, but his earliest dated works evoke the meticulous laid table scenes of the Antwerp painters Clara Peeters and Osias Beert the Elder.
A master of still life painting during the Golden Age of Dutch Baroque art, Claesz along with his contemporary Willem Claesz Heda were the foremost exponents of "breakfast pieces" (ontbijtjes), a type of Protestant Reformation Art, that highlights the transience of earthly life in comparison to permanent Christian values. This genre of Vanitas painting was a perfect match for the style of Dutch Realism practiced by Heda and Claesz, as well as Old Masters like Jan Davidsz de Heem from Utrecht; Willem Kalf and Rachel Ruysch from the Amsterdam school; Frans Snyders of the Antwerp school and Harmen van Steenwyck of the Delft school.
Claesz settled in Haarlem in 1617 where he joined the Guild of St. Luke and began his career as a painter. It is believed that he may have been a pupil of Floris Claesz van Dyck. At any rate, avoiding the more common types of art, such as genre painting and portrait art, Claesz became an early pioneer of table-top still lifes - quiet symbolic arrangements of dining objects together with foods like olives, herring, fresh fruits, crispy rolls, and pastries - characterized by an extraordinary degree of naturalism and fine detail.
Color was restrained if not monochromatic, with subtle rendering of light and texture being the main methods of expression. Dutch still life painting was essentially a new small-scale form of Biblical art designed for domestic display, which typically conveyed a moral message about the transience of material objects and consumption. The latter was expressed through the use of symbolic objects (embodying time, impermanence or decay), like a watch, hour-glass, a wilted flower, a piece of fresh fruit, a skull, a guttering candle, and so on. In fact, the majority of all objects which appeared in this type of realist painting were carefully chosen for their symbolic references to the ephemeral quality of human life.
Pieter Claesz's career is commonly divided into three periods, each with a slightly different style. To begin with, up until about 1625 his pictures usually consist of a table laid with crockery, silverware, drinking glasses, spices, and fruit, executed in clear crisp color. Between about 1625 and 1640, in response to changing taste, he gradually reduced the number of items on display, often limiting himself to just one glass, a single plate and a herring, plus a bread roll. Also, he often resorted to the device of including a table edge to add depth to the painting.
After 1640, he added more color and more objects to his paintings, as well as a variety of luxurious dishes and fine glass, and a wealth of flowers, fruits and game. This later style influenced several other masters of pronkstilleven, including Abraham van Beyeren, Willem Kalf and Jan Davidsz de Heem, although Claesz never adopted the sumptuous assemblies of Jan Davidsz de Heem, or indeed the aristocratic items and polished finish of his Haarlem compatriot Willem Claesz Heda.
Claesz remained in Haarlem for the rest of his life. He died about 1660. He was survived by his son, Nicolaes Berchem, who enjoyed a successful career as a landscape painter. Today his works are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the Prado Museum in Madrid, among others.
Pieter Claesz was admired for his sensitive representation of light and texture, and subdued, monochrome colour palettes, typically consisting of subtle tonal harmonies of grey, green and brown, occasionally with a sharp burst of yellow provided by a peeled lemon, although his still life arrangements gradually became more lavish and richer in colour after his mid-40s. Claesz influenced a number of contemporary Dutch still life painters, as well as the French still life painter Jean Chardin.
His best works include "Still Life with Musical Instruments" (1623, Louvre); "Vanitas with Violin" (1625, Germanisches Nationalmuseum); "Still Life with Turkey Pie" (1627, Rijksmuseum); "Vanitas Still Life with Spinario" (1628, Rijksmuseum); "Still Life with Skull" (1630, Mauritshuis, The Hague); "Still Life with Roemer, Crab and a Peeled Lemon" (1643, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide); "Still Life with Fruit and Roemer" (1644, Museum of Fine Arts Budapest); "Still Life with Salt Tub" (1644, Rijksmuseum). Claesz’s simple compositions are noted for bringing a remarkable presence to familiar items, capturing their rich textures, three-dimensional forms, and the play of light on surfaces.
Still Life with Musical Instruments
1623Still Life with Large Goblet
1624Still life with a burning candle
1627Still Life with a Turkey Pie
1627Still Life. Skull and Writing Quill
1628Still Life with Violin and Glass Ball
1628Vanitas Still-life
1628Still Life
1630Vanitas. Still Life
1630Still Life
1630Still Life with Oysters
1633Still Life with Wine Glass and Silver Bowl
1635A Silver Beaker, a Roemer and a Peeled Lemon
1636Still Life with a Gold Chain
1636Still Life with Herring
1636Tobacco Pipes and a Brazier
1636Still Life with Goblet, Silver Tureen and Bread
1637Claesz's still lifes often suggest allegorical purpose, with skulls serving as reminders of human mortality. For Pieter Claesz, the principal aim was to render the materials and catch the reflected light as accurately as possible. This was his speciality.
Pieter became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in 1620.
After Pieter's first wife died, he married Trijntien Lourensdr on August 8, 1635, with whom he had two daughters. His son, Nicolaes Berchem, was a famous landscape painter.
