The arrangement of several objects in a still-life painting infuses the canvas with profound meaning and enduring significance. Yet for centuries critics dismissed their suggestiveness and connection with the viewer’s mind, often considering them a merely decorative piece. When the Dutch Golden Age artist Pieter Claesz formed still life paintings, he portrayed beer, sometimes shrimp, and everyday breakfast items, each with symbolism behind them. Adopting the techniques of Dutch art that were made famous by Rembrandt of heightening concentration through close color harmonies and skillful use of light effects, the artist’s still-life paintings evocated simplicity in his early career and then complexity in his mature period. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Viena presents a special exhibition on the Dutch Baroque painter Pieter Claesz (1597/98–1660), from 17 June 2025 to 15 March 2026, focussing the important representative of seventeenth-century still life paintings in cooperation with the Kaiserschild Foundation, Alte Galerie of the Universalmuseum Joanneum Graz, and Kunst Museum Winterthur.
The exhibition will feature the three most significant pictures of the artist: Still Life with Fruit Pie, Overturned Silver Tazza, Gilt Cup, and a ‘Roemer’ (wine glass) (1637) from the Kunst Museum Winterthur, Still Life with Glass Goblet (1642) from the Alte Galerie of the Universalmuseum Joanneum Graz – a permanent loan from the Kaiserschild Foundation – and Vanitas Still Life (1656) from the Kunsthistorisches Museum. In addition to these three main works, the museum will show the digitized version of still life paintings to engage with them in an interactive and in-depth way.
Pieter Claesz is one of the most celebrated and foremost practitioners of the Dutch monochromatic still life. Born in the small village of Temese, near Antwerp, Claesz established himself in Haarlem around 1620. The earliest works of Claesz resemble those of his fellows, including Jacob Foppens van Es. Developing the tradition of Haarlem still life painting, Claesz is regarded as the founder of the new type of ‘laid tables’. The trademark of his style was creating small meal pictures, which is known as ‘ontbijtje’ or ‘banketje,’ with muted colors and few objects as if the visual language is just reduced to the essentials. Claesz painted around 230 paintings during his lifetime, and he was justifiably famous for his subtle use of color and light and his skill in depicting different surfaces.
In the painting, Still Life with Fruit Pie, Overturned Silver Tazza, Gilt Cup, and a ‘Roemer’ (wine glass) (1637), Pieter Claesz illustrates the wealth of the Netherlands in the so-called Golden Age. The opulently laid table with exquisite dishes and precious vessels showed the economic prosperity of the upper classes, while the medial table gave an insight into the origins of the status symbols on display. Further, the canvas shows magnificent vessels, which are contextualized with comparable objects from today’s art chambers.
Another composition, Still Life with Glass Goblet (1642) shows a simple Dutch snack typical of the time with herring, onions, bread, and beer. He used masterful illusion techniques with delicate handling of light and reflections in a monochrome color palette here, which gives an enhanced knowledge of the artist’s techniques. Lastly, Vanitas Still Life (1656) portrays a skull, a fallen glass (‘Roman’), and a clock, as special points of interest at the interactive media table. The artist thematizes the transience of life in this composition.
The exhibition sets an interest in still-life paintings as it is the most humble genre that is yet to be explored in detail.
Featured Image: Exhibition view Pieter Claesz: Still Lives © KHM-Museumsverband