Past Exhibition

Pieter Claesz

A jumble of pewter plates and a pitcher, glass goblets, a gold chalice, a brass candlestick, and other vessels along with lemons, olives, and the remains of a mince pie are arranged on a cream-white tablecloth bunched on a dark green tabletop in this square still life painting. The scene is painted almost entirely in shades of cool grays, gold, brown, and white against a deep beige background. The objects span width of the canvas across its center. At the left edge of the painting, a vibrant yellow lemon has been cut so its rind curls in a spiral that hangs over the front edge of the table. Behind the lemon, a scissor-like candle snuffer is propped against the wide ledge of the tall brass candlestick, its white candle nearly burned down. A few glistening olives sit in a small pewter plate, and one olive sits on the tabletop near the lemon and candlestick. A glass goblet with a wide stem with textured knubs rests upended on an elaborately chased, gold, footed vessel that has been tipped over so its wide shallow bowl faces away from us. The tall pewter pitcher behind this is dented on its rounded body. The lidded gold chalice next to the jug is the tallest object in the painting. Next to the chalice, along the right half of the painting, is a glass oil cruet with a long, curving spout, a tall, cylindrical vessel holding a small pile of salt, and a straight-sided, low glass holding beer. In front of these objects, an untouched bread roll and knife sit on a pewter plate at the center of the composition. The remains of the mince pie with its pastry crust sit on a large pewter plate to our right. In front of it is a smaller plate holding a broken goblet and a piece of black and white paper rolled into a cone. A few empty oyster shells sit on the table to the left and right, near the lemons and mince pie. The artist signed and dated the painting along the edge of the white cloth near the lower right corner: “HEDA 1635.”
Willem Claesz Heda, Banquet Piece with Mince Pie, 1635, oil on canvas, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1991.87.1

Details

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  • Locations

    West Building Main Floor
A jumble of pewter plates and a pitcher, glass goblets, a gold chalice, a brass candlestick, and other vessels along with lemons, olives, and the remains of a mince pie are arranged on a cream-white tablecloth bunched on a dark green tabletop in this square still life painting. The scene is painted almost entirely in shades of cool grays, gold, brown, and white against a deep beige background. The objects span width of the canvas across its center. At the left edge of the painting, a vibrant yellow lemon has been cut so its rind curls in a spiral that hangs over the front edge of the table. Behind the lemon, a scissor-like candle snuffer is propped against the wide ledge of the tall brass candlestick, its white candle nearly burned down. A few glistening olives sit in a small pewter plate, and one olive sits on the tabletop near the lemon and candlestick. A glass goblet with a wide stem with textured knubs rests upended on an elaborately chased, gold, footed vessel that has been tipped over so its wide shallow bowl faces away from us. The tall pewter pitcher behind this is dented on its rounded body. The lidded gold chalice next to the jug is the tallest object in the painting. Next to the chalice, along the right half of the painting, is a glass oil cruet with a long, curving spout, a tall, cylindrical vessel holding a small pile of salt, and a straight-sided, low glass holding beer. In front of these objects, an untouched bread roll and knife sit on a pewter plate at the center of the composition. The remains of the mince pie with its pastry crust sit on a large pewter plate to our right. In front of it is a smaller plate holding a broken goblet and a piece of black and white paper rolled into a cone. A few empty oyster shells sit on the table to the left and right, near the lemons and mince pie. The artist signed and dated the painting along the edge of the white cloth near the lower right corner: “HEDA 1635.”
Willem Claesz Heda, Banquet Piece with Mince Pie, 1635, oil on canvas, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1991.87.1

Overview: 30 still-life paintings by 17th-century Dutch artist Pieter Claesz were included in this first international exhibition of his work, along with 6 still lifes by his predecessors and contemporaries Floris van Dijck, Willem Claesz Heda, Gerret Willemsz Heda, Osias Beert the Elder, and Jan Brueghel the Elder. Decorative objects and books from the period were displayed in cases in the Dutch Cabinet Galleries. Among them was the gilt cup of the Haarlem brewer's guild, which appears in one of the Claesz paintings in the exhibition. The exhibition was a variant of the earlier presentations in Haarlem and Zürich.

In conjunction with the exhibition, a 2-part lecture program was presented by the exhibition curator, Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., and by author and food historian Peter G. Rose.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, and the Kunsthaus Zürich. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque painting at the National Gallery, was curator in Washington.

Sponsor: The exhibition was made possible through the support of Greg and Candy Fazakerley. It also was supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Attendance: 112,290

Catalog: Pieter Claesz: Master of Haarlem Still Life, by Pieter Biesboer et al. Zwolle: Waanders Publishers, 2004.

Brochure: Pieter Claesz: Master of Haarlem Still Life, by Margaret Doyle. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2005.

Other Venues:

  • Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, 11/27/2004–04/03/2005
  • Kunsthaus Zürich, 04/22/2005–08/21/2005

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