Exquisite Dutch still life - masterpieces of a quiet life

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

"Quiet life" was called still life in Holland. This is despite the fact that the name of the genre in French means "dead nature". Why, then, in the mouths of the Dutch, compositions from inanimate objects, colorfully displayed on canvas, meant life? Yes, these images were so bright, reliable and expressive that even the most inexperienced connoisseurs admired the realism and tangibility of the details. But that's not all.

Dutch still life is an attempt to tell about how alive and closely every object, every part of this world is woven into the complex world of man and participates in it. The Dutch masters created ingenious compositions and were able to depict the shape, color overflows, volume and texture of objects so accurately that they seemed to preserve the dynamics of human actions. Here is a pen with a gleaming drop of ink that has not yet cooled down from the poet’s hand, here is a cut pomegranate, watery with ruby juice, and here is a bun bitten and thrown on a crumpled napkin… And at the same time, this is an invitation to admire and enjoy the magnificence and diversity of nature.

Themes and pictorial images

Dutch still lifeinexhaustible in the abundance of topics. Some painters united in passion for flowers and fruits, others specialized in the rough plausibility of pieces of meat and fish, others lovingly created kitchen utensils on canvas, and still others devoted themselves to the theme of science and art.

The Dutch still life of the early 17th century is distinguished by its commitment to symbolism. Objects have a strictly defined place and meaning. The apple in the center of the image tells about the fall of the first man, the bunch of grapes covering it tells about the atoning sacrifice of Christ. An empty shell, which once served as a home for a sea mollusk, talks about the frailty of life, drooping and dried flowers about death, and a butterfly that fluttered out of a cocoon heralds resurrection and renewal. B althazar van der Ast writes in this manner.

Artists of the new generation have already proposed a somewhat different Dutch still life. Painting "breathes" with the elusive beauty lurking in ordinary things. A half-filled glass, serving items scattered on the table, fruits, a cut cake - the authenticity of details perfectly conveys color, light, shadows, highlights and reflections, convincingly connected with the texture of fabric, silver, glass and food. These are the canvases of Pieter Claesz Heda.

By the beginning of the 18th century, Dutch still life gravitates towards an impressive aesthetic of detail. Graceful gilded porcelain bowls, goblets made of intricately curled shells, and fruits exquisitely laid out on a platter reign here. It is impossible to look at canvases without fadingWillem Kalf or Abraham van Beyeren. The Dutch still life with flowers becomes unusually common. The flowers, captured by the hand of the master, speak a special, sensual language and impart harmony and rhythm to the pictorial work. Lines, weaves and shades of stems, buds, open inflorescences present in the still life seem to create a complex symphony that makes the viewer not only admire, but also excitedly experience the incomprehensible beauty of the world.