Flemish still life

Vermeer never painted a still life as such, but many of his interiors included them. A white jug like this appears in a 3 of his 37 paintings, a maid asleep, the girl with a wineglass and the music lesson. These images include seduction and inebriation, those were very prudish times. I have had great difficulty finding a pure white delft jug, but I managed to finally get one, with a little help from a can of spray paint.

The Dutch loved painting lemons; Italians, oranges and pears. Meanwhile, artists from the US and France were the most likely to incorporate the humble cracker into their canvases.

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Still life painting has long been a preoccupation of artists, a chance to show off their masterful rendering skills by capturing in breathtaking detail the delicate petals of a flower or the gleaming reflection off of a glass goblet. The genre has proven limitless through the ages. Below, a selection of works from the upcoming Master Paintings Evening Sale highlight the fascinating breadth in interpretation and execution.

Adriaen Coorte [Dutch Golden Age painter, ca.1660-1707] Adriaen Coorte’s collected works comprises more than 60 signed paintings, almost all of which are dated between 1683 and 1705. His manner of painting was highly refined, and his works small in scale. Initially Coorte painted more traditional subjects, such as vanitas still lifes, before concentrating on fruit, vegetables, nuts, and shells. The objects in his still lifes are often shown life-size, resting on a stone table, and always lit…

A Bouquet of Flowers, Clara Peeters (Flemish, Mechelen ca. 1587–after 1636 Ghent), Oil on wood Peeters was a founding figure in the history of European still life, a genre that attracted many women artists who did not have the opportunity to study nude models. In this ambitious composition, Peeters paid close attention to naturalistic details like dewdrops, insect bites, and drooping tulips that hint at transience and decay.

Willem Kalf was the master of the pronkstilleven with was a form of still life that featured rare and valuable items. I have been for some time searching for a Ginger Jar that featured in his work, whilst not identical, this is pretty close. One of things I love about Kalf is his ability to paint the translucency of porcelain. Chinese Kraak porcelain was much in demand by the royalty of Europe, a little Kalpmuts bowl like this would have commanded quite a price in its day. It is so light and…

Georg Flegel “Still-life with Carnation and Eggs” (1600)

An ongoing series of still life inspired by the Dutch Masters and Flemish painters of the 15-1600's.