Tag: Still Life

Pulling the Pretzel

Pulling the Pretzel

Het trekken aan de Krakeling

After writing about saints and sinners, prophets and heroes, I now turn to a more mundane subject: a playful tradition from 17th-century Holland known as pulling the pretzel, or in good old Dutch, het trekken aan de krakeling. A joyful occasion, it seems at first glance, but perhaps not without a deeper moral meaning.

Pulling the pretzel, or in Dutch: Het trekken aan de krakeling (c.1630), Jan Harmensz van Bijlert (Dutch, c.1597 – 1671), 91x119cm, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Jan van Bijlert’s Pulling the Pretzel, in the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, depicts two men and two women seated at a table set with pretzels, butter, and salt. The group appears to be playing a game in which the person who pulls off the longer half of a shared pretzel wins. The usual title of the painting, Merry Company Eating Pretzels, is misleading, since the figures are not eating but engaged in the act of pulling the pretzel. At the back of the table, a man and woman share one pretzel, and the woman, using two fingers instead of only her pinky, cheats to improve her chances. Her partner notices but does not object, placing his arm around her shoulders and seeming more interested in her bosom. While across from them, another woman raises her glass in protest. The man beside her looks out of the painting, showing us viewers a pretzel and underscoring the two-finger-cheating.

The scene is festive on the surface, yet its meaning is more complex. Through its lively composition and direct engagement with the viewer, Van Bijlert combines humor and sensuality with an underlying allegory of human weakness, temptation, and the fragile balance between good and bad habits.

Pulling the pretzel, from Johan de Brune, Emblemata of Zinne-werck, published in Amsterdam (1624), page 143, Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolenbüttel, Germany.

This gesture of pulling a pretzel is rare in Dutch painting, but it appears in Johan de Brune’s Emblemata, a book of moral emblems published in 1624. In that context, it symbolizes the human soul caught in a struggle between the forces of good and evil, between God and the devil. The pretzel itself, with its twisted form, becomes a metaphor. Its contorted shape reflects the spiritual confusion and moral weakness of humanity.

Netherlandish Proverbs (1599), Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Flemish, c.1525 – 1569), 117x164cm, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.

Pulling a pretzel also appears in Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Netherlandish Proverbs, where the gesture is usually interpreted as illustrating the saying “to draw the long (or short) end.” In my view, this reading could be reconsidered. It may be more fitting to interpret it in light of the older tradition of “pulling the pretzel.”

Netherlandish Proverbs (1599), detail, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Flemish, c.1525 – 1569), Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.

Pretzels at the bakery

Let’s have a look at two paintings of bakers and their shops, with pretzels offered amongst the breads and rolls.

Baker’s Couple Arent Oostwaard and Catharina Keizerswaard (1658), Jan Steen (Dutch, 1626 – 1679), 38x32cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

The Baker’s Couple by Jan Steen (Rijksmuseum) and The Baker by Gerrit Berckheyde (Worcester Art Museum), offer a celebration of bread and its makers. In both scenes, the bakers stand at the threshold of their shop, surrounded by a bounty of loaves, rolls, and pretzels arranged almost like a still life of abundance. With pride they present their freshly baked goods to the viewer. The presence of the baker’s horn, used to announce that the bread is ready, adds to the sense of interaction with the viewer. Pretzels appear in great numbers, not only as a popular food but perhaps also as a visual symbol that connects everyday life to deeper cultural and moral meanings, just as they do in Van Bijlert’s painting.

The Baker (1681), Job Adriaensz. Berckheyde (Dutch, 1630–1693), 63×53cm, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA.

Pretzels in still life paintings

Still life with flowers, dried fruits and pretzels (1611), Clara Peeters (Flemish, c.1594 – before 1657), 52x73cm, Prado, Madrid.

Two still lifes by Clara Peeters, one in the Prado and the other in the Mauritshuis, feature pretzels among the exquisitely painted objects. In the Prado version, a half-eaten pretzel suggests that someone has already been at the table, heightening the illusion that this is a moment captured from real life. These compositions are often said to contain vanitas themes, subtly referring to the fragility of life and the passage of time. For Peeters herself and for her contemporaries, however, the primary purpose could simply be the display of artistic virtuosity and the association of such objects with refined taste and social status.

Still Life with cheeses, almonds and pretzels (1615), Clara Peeters (Flemish, c.1594 -before 1657), 35x50cm, Mauritshuis, The Hague.

Still, the presence of the pretzel, especially the broken one, may hint at a deeper layer of meaning. Like in Van Bijlert’s painting or the emblems of Johan de Brune, the pretzel could symbolize the human soul caught between virtue and temptation, between divine order and worldly desire. Whether intended or not, such readings remain possible.

In the end, it is all in the eye of the beholder.

Pretzels in manuscripts

Last Supper, from a Benedictional (c.1030), Illustrated manuscript from Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany, Ms. Ludwig VII 1 (83.MI.90), p. 23×16cm, Getty, Los Angeles.

To step further back in time, a miniature of the Last Supper from around 1030, part of an illuminated manuscript in the Getty Museum, shows a pretzel placed plainly on the table among other foods. And in the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, a richly decorated prayer book from around 1440, now in the Morgan Library & Museum, the border of one miniature is woven entirely from intertwined pretzels, forming a frame around the sacred image.

Saint Bartholomew, with border of intertwined pretzels, from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves (c.1440), Illustrated manuscript, MS M.917:945, p. 228, 19x13cm, Morgan Library & Museum, New York.

Closing notes

These appearances in paintings and manuscripts remind us that the pretzel was not always a symbol to be decoded. It was also an everyday food, a common bakery item, familiar to people of all ages and social ranks. Not everything has to carry a hidden meaning.

Sometimes, a pretzel is just a pretzel.

Basket of Fruit (c.1599), Caravaggio, Milan.

Basket of Fruit (c.1599), Caravaggio, Milan.

Caravaggio (Italian, 1571 – 1610)

Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan

The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana was established in April 1618, when Cardinal Federico Borromeo donated his collection of paintings, drawings and statues to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, which he had founded in 1607. The museum consists of 24 rooms, where visitors can admire some of the greatest masterpieces of all time, and one of those is the Basket of Fruit or Canestra di Frutta by Caravaggio.

Basket of Fruit, Canestra di Frutta (c.1599), Caravaggio (Italian, 1571 – 1610), 68x55cm, Pinacoteca of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan.

This Basket of Fruit is probably the most famous painting in the collection of Cardinal Federico Borromeo, which formed the original nucleus of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. It is considered to be a sort of prototype of the “still life” genre. It shows a wicker basket brimming with fruit and leaves, rendered with great realism and attention to detail. This almost conflicts with the abstract neutral background of the painting and with the line of colour the basket itself is resting on, and from which it juts out. The founder of the Ambrosiana mentions this extraordinary painting many times in his writings and says he has searched in vain for a work that can bear comparison to it. But, he writes “for its incomparable beauty and excellence, it remained alone”. The painting has been interpreted in many different ways, some of which are religious: the extreme realism with which the fresh fruits are placed alongside those that are worm-eaten, and the leaves that gradually dry out and shrivel, give tangible form to the inexorable passing of time.

And when you are visiting the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, please do not forget to see Leonardo da Vinci’s only painting on panel to have remained in Milan, now called Portrait of a Musician.

Portrait of a Musician (c.1485), Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452 – 1519), 45×32cm, Pinacoteca of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan.

Leonardo’s Portrait of a Musician was traditionally thought to depict Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan. In 1905, when restoration work removed the overpainting and uncovered the hand with a musical scroll in the lower part, it was suggested that this was the portrait of a Musician, at times identified as Franchino Gaffurio, chapel Master of the Duomo of Milan and at other times as the Franco Flemish singer and composer Josquin des Prez, both of whom worked in Milan at the time of Leonardo and Ludovico il Moro. Recently it has also been suggested that it is a portrait of Atalante Migliorotti, a Tuscan musician who was a friend of Leonardo and who came with him to the Duke’s court in Milan as a singer and talented lyrist. With other words, we don’t know who it is, but it’s a beautiful portrait for sure. And the queues are way less than for visiting Leonardo’s Last Supper!

National Gallery of Art acquires Anne Vallayer-Coster still life

National Gallery of Art acquires Anne Vallayer-Coster still life

Anne Vallayer-Coster (French, 1744 – 1818)

Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit (1783)

The National Gallery of Art, Washington, has acquired an important painting by Anne Vallayer-Coster (1744–1818), Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit (1783). One of the greatest still life painters of 18th-century France, Vallayer-Coster achieved remarkable success in the male-dominated art world of her time. She not only attracted the patronage of some of the most powerful collectors of the time, including Marie Antoinette, but she also became one of the few women to be admitted to the prestigious Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and to show her work at its official public exhibition, the Salon.

Portrait of Anne Vallayer-Coster (c.1770), Engraving by Charles Francois Le Tellier (French, 1743 – 1800), National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit is the first painting by Vallayer-Coster to enter the National Gallery’s collection. Despite the limited access to training and patronage, women artists achieved unprecedented professional opportunities and success in the latter half of the 18th century. Vallayer-Coster, alongside Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, is now the second woman artist represented in the National Gallery’s collection of 18th-century French paintings. This masterpiece not only fills out a more complete story of this pivotal period in European art history, but also highlights the accomplishments of one of its most significant artists.

Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit (1783), Anne Vallayer-Coster (French, 1744 – 1818), 109x90cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

One of Vallayer-Coster’s most ambitious works, this painting showcases her unrivaled ability to capture the soft, delicate textures of flowers and to coordinate their dazzling colors and irregular shapes into a harmonious whole. When it was exhibited at the Salon of 1783, critics hailed Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit as a masterpiece. Vallayer-Coster herself considered it her finest painting, and she kept it until her death. Lost for nearly 200 years, this extraordinary work was recently rediscovered in an almost pristine state of preservation: unlined, on its original stretcher, and in the Louis XVI frame in which it was likely exhibited.

Depicting an opulent bouquet brimming with meticulously studied and exquisitely rendered flowers, this work includes roses, irises, lilacs, carnations, hollyhocks, dahlias, bluebells, and hydrangeas, among others, that create a dazzling display of color against the rich, chocolate brown scumbling of the background. The flowers sit in an alabaster vase adorned with French gilt-bronze mounts, featuring a child satyr supporting a cornucopia of fruits and flowers. Resting on an elaborately carved and gilded mahogany table with a pale gray marble top, the vase and flowers are completed by a bunch of white grapes, a pineapple, and three peaches. Evoking the cool polish of marble and alabaster, the glistening surface of cast-bronze, the translucency of grapes, the spiky form of a pineapple, the velvety skin of peaches, and the delicate freshness of flower petals, the painting epitomizes Vallayer-Coster’s extraordinary skill in portraying colors and textures.

Mauritshuis Acquires a Tulip by Balthasar van der Ast

Mauritshuis Acquires a Tulip by Balthasar van der Ast

“Zomerschoon” or “Summer Beauty”

The Mauritshuis has acquired Vase with a Single Tulip by Balthasar van der Ast. This still life from 1625 is a rare painting showing only one flowering tulip. And it’s a very small painting, 27x20cm. Watercolor drawings with the one flower have been preserved in full, such as in tulip albums for bulb growers. In contrast, only two Dutch paintings with a single tulip are known from the 17th century.


Vase with a Single Tulip (1625), Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch, 1593 – 1657), 27x20cm, Mauritshuis, The Hague.

First documented in the eighteenth century in the collection of Johan van der Linden van Slingelandt (1701 – 1782), this is a much celebrated still life by Balthasar van der Ast, remarkable for its minimalist conception, featuring just a single flower. The composition is beautifully and simply arranged. A Zomerschoon (Summer Beauty) tulip stands in a small glass vase with a gilded neck and foot, placed just off centre in the panel, on a brown stone ledge. A small Adonis blue butterfly (Polyommatus bellargus ) has alighted on one of the flower’s leaves while a fly crawls along the ledge below, and we see three small drops of water against the dark leaf and background.

Van der Ast’s panel portrays nothing of the frantic atmosphere of speculation and competition in which it was created. The “Tulip Mania,” which swept the Netherlands during the 1620s and ‘30s, saw the fervid importation, production and sale of countless varieties of tulips as the emerging wealthy merchant class sought to own and grow new, strikingly colored types of the flower. At the peak of the mania, some of the flowers themselves cost more than their painted versions. In the boom year of 1637, particularly desired tulip bulbs could sell for 100–300 guilders, while a painting of flowers by Van der Ast was only about 39 guilders. So-called “broken” tulips (those infected with the virus which gave them their variegated colors) were the most popular new varieties. The Zomerschoon, usually consisting of red or pink streaks on a white or cream petal, was highly sought after and commanded exorbitant prices. It remains one of the few varieties of tulip cultivated in Holland in the seventeenth century that exist today.

Earlier in the painting’s provenance, it was auctioned at Christie’s, on December 8, 2016 for GBP 809,000 (Estimate GBP 300,000 – GBP 500,000).

Tulip “Admirael Castelyn” and Tulip “Perragoen Spoors” (c.1625), from a portfolio with 71 drawings of tulips and shells, Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch, 1593 – 1657), Watercolor, 31x20cm, Fondation Custodia, Paris.

To prepare his still lifes, Van der Ast made a sort of library of over 800 drawings of individual species of flowers, seashells and some insects, which he kept in his studio. The sheets are characterized by a number placed in the bottom left corner, as well as a calligraphic inscription naming the flower or seashell, and Balthasar van der Ast’s monogram in the bottom right corner. The largest group, consisting of 71 sheets, is housed in a folder at the Fondation Custodia, Paris. Van der Ast may have used this catalog for buyers when ordering a still life painting with flowers and shells, like buying a bouquet of flowers.

Shells and lizard (c.1625), from a portfolio with 71 drawings of tulips and shells, Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch, 1593 – 1657), Watercolor, 31x20cm, Fondation Custodia, Paris.

Shortly after 1600, flower still lifes emerged as a new genre in Dutch paintings, featuring a bouquet of blooming flowers. Rare and exotic species were favorites, such as the tulip. With these, painters created impossible bouquets; in reality, the various flowers could never all bloom at the same time.

Flowers in a Wan-Li Vase, with Shells (c.1645), Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch, 1593 – 1657), 53x43cm, Mauritshuis, The Hague.
A Tulip, a Carnation and Roses, with Shells and Insects, on a Shelf (c.1630), Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch, 1593 – 1657), 31x40cm, Sotheby’s New York January 27, 2022, Estimate 200,000 – 300,000 USD, unsold.

Balthasar van der Ast was taught by his brother-in-law Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573 – 1621), the pioneering flower painter of the first decades of the seventeenth century. Works in which a choice number of blooms and a few shells are placed on a ledge with flying insects, are an innovation of Van der Ast.  He is not afraid to pose his flowers in unexpected ways, for example the roses placed face-down on the ledge, the better to appreciate the ruffles of the petals.

The shells in these paintings are also collectors’ items, important elements of the cabinets of curiosities that became popular in the seventeenth century. They reflect increasing interest in the natural world and the trading and colonial voyages of Dutch sailors, who took the shells as souvenirs with them from the Far East and West.

Flowers in a Vase, Shells, Butterflies, and a Cricket (c.1645), Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch, 1593 – 1657), 53x42cm, Louvre, Paris.

The painter Balthasar van der Ast (born in Middelburg, 1593) was raised by his older sister Maria. She was married to flower still life painter Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, who became Van der Ast’s teacher and introduced him to flower still lifes. In 1619, Balthasar van der Ast enrolled as a master painter in the Utrecht St. Luke’s Guild. At that time, the city of Utrecht was the center for flower still life art. Roelant Savery – about whom an exhibition will be on display at the Mauritshuis in spring 2024 – also worked here. Savery had a great influence on the development of Van der Ast, who made his use of color his own. In addition, Balthasar van der Ast had the advantage of being able to study various types of flowers at Savery’s home in Utrecht, as this painter owned his own garden with exotic flowers and plants.

Flowers in a Wan-Li Vase (c.1620), Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch, 1593 – 1657), 37x28cm, Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen, Germany.

At Tefaf in 2004, this still life by Balthasar van der Ast was found, that had gone missing from the Suermondt Ludwig Museum in Aachen in 1945. The painting finally made its way back to the museum in 2017.

The specific relevant content for this request, if necessary, delimited with characters: As many works of art belonging to the city of Aachen, the painting was taken to the Albrechtsburg in Meißen in 1942, since that area was supposed to be safe with regard to air raids. The American army withdrew in the summer of 1945 and left the area to the Soviet authorities. The fate of the Van der Ast from Aachen remained obscure, since the storage in the Albrechtsburg was to be heavily plundered by the Red Army and many pieces would end up in the Soviet Union. The Van der Ast still life, however, was not among these. It’s thought that a German lady working for the Soviet secret police had stolen the paintings from the Albrechtsburg. Afterwards, she had fled to Berlin and worked for the American forces, which enabled her to immigrate to the US and from there into Canada. With her, she brought twelve paintings, at least ten of them from the Aachen Suermondt-Museum. Over time, most of these paintings got dispersed and disappeared, but not the Van der Ast. Only recently, the negotiations have led to a proposal by the City of Aachen. The current owner agreed to return the painting to Aachen for a finder’s fee.

Two Van der Ast paintings are still missing according to the German Lost Art Foundation database.

Still Life with Flowers (c.1630), Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch, 1593 – 1657), 37x24cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts.
Flowers in a Vase with Shells and Insects (c.1630), Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch, 1593 – 1657), 47x37cm, National Gallery, London.
Chinese Vase with Flowers, Shells, and Insects (1628), Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch, 1593 – 1657), 52x33cm, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.
Basket of Flowers (c.1622), Balthasar van der Ast (Dutch, 1593 – 1657), 18x24cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

An inventory of 1632 confirms the presence of this still life in the collection of Princess Amalia van Solms, wife of Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange. By the early 1630s, Frederik Hendrik and Amalia van Solms had formed an important collection of contemporary Dutch and Flemish paintings. Their taste led them to collect mythological and allegorical paintings as well as princely portraits. The inventory of their possessions made in 1632 lists only four still lifes, of which “two small paintings in ebony frames, one a basket with fruit and the other a basket with flowers, by Van der Ast.”

The Louvre: Things, a History of Still Life

The Louvre: Things, a History of Still Life

“There is still life in still lifes”

Musée du Louvre Paris is hosting an exceptional exhibition, “Les choses, une histoire de la nature morte” or “Things, a history of still life”. Still life, the exhibition argues, is not about “nature morte” which is the French expression for still life and literally translates to “dead nature”, but about a living form of art, animated by the heart and mind of the artist, the viewer and their surroundings. The French expression “nature morte” is implying that, in order to capture the richness of the natural world around us, it needs to be fixed and robbed of life. The Louvre exhibition changes this view. The “things” on the exhibition encourage to look at “still lifes” in a fresh way and to think and dream together with the artist. To contemplate the world of “things” as if they were indeed alive. The Louvre proves there is still life in still lifes.

Hereunder a personal selection, starting in 1964 and backwards to the 15th Century. I will try to emphasise the “life” in these still lifes.

Marcel Broodthaers (1924 – 1976) “Casserole and Closed Mussels” 1964, Mussel shells, pigment, polyester resin and iron casserole with wooden handles, 31x28x25cm, Tate, London.

Casserole and Closed Mussels (1965) by Marcel Broodthaers is a work that uses empty mussel shells as both subject and medium. The mussel shells were obtained from a restaurant that he frequented in Brussels. The cooking pot belonged to the Broodthaers’s family and was used right up until the time that the work was created. The mussel shell can be read as symbolizing the artist’s native Belgium, mussels being a popular national dish. Broodthaers’s use of mussels also refers to the representation of shellfish in Flemish 17th Century still life painting, where the empty shell became a symbol of vanity and the futility of luxury. 

Giorgio Morandi (1890 – 1964) “Natura morta” 1944, 31x53cm, Centre Pompidou, Paris.

This Natura Morta is exemplary of Giorgio Morandi‘s art of translating the mystery and poetry of simple things. He would depict the same familiar bottles and vases again and again in paintings notable for their simplicity of execution. Morandi chose these ordinary objects and staged the pots and vases in an ever different manner, against a neutral background, and painted in soft whitish colors. They seem frozen in time, silent and secret. Morandi has thus immortalized these things and made them present to the world, in a way that exceeds their function and simplicity. Morandi made over 1000 paintings and created his own recognizable style. The artist lived his whole life in Bologna, Italy, where the Morandi Museum contains a major collection of his work. The Casa Morandi, where he lived with his sisters and where he had his workshop can be seen in its original form, including the cupboards with the simple pots, bottles and vases he used for his many still lifes.

Joan Miró (1893 – 1983) “Still Life with Old Shoe” Paris 1937, 81x117cm, MoMA Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Joan Miró painted Still Life with Old Shoe in 1937, being exiled to Paris in the midst of the Spanish Civil War. Over a few months he created Still Life with Old Shoe, which was his first painting with recognisable objects after a decade of abstract work. Miró said: “The composition is realistic because I was paralysed by the feeling of terror and almost unable to paint at all… We are living through a terrible drama, everything happening in Spain is terrifying in a way you could never imagine.” Miró painted in his words “something very serious”, a “tragedy of things, a miserable piece of bread, an old shoe, an apple pierced by a cruel fork and a bottle, like a flaming house that spread the fire over the whole surface”. The whole painting seems to be set against the backdrop of a burning, hellish landscape. The apple is brownish-yellow, which suggests rotting. Miró himself stated “The fork attacks the apple as if it were a bayonet. The apple is Spain.” This painting is Miró’s traumatised reaction to the Spanish Civil War.

Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1903) “La Table de cuisine, The Kitchen Table” c.1889, 65x82cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

The “things” on the Kitchen Table by Cézanne are assembled by the painter’s mind, not by putting the objects on a table and copying that image on a canvas. For Cézanne, it’s not about showing reality. The ginger-pot, which appears in 12 of Cézanne’s paintings, has no surface to sit on, and neither has the large basket at the back. None of the table, cupboard and chair are holding any probable perspective. And yet, Cézanne creates a harmonious and lively ensemble. It’s not a static still life or “nature morte”; it’s a kitchen table that comes to life. Cézanne’s painting represents more truth than ever can be made visible on a real-life kitchen table. Cézanne creates the predecessor of VR, Virtual Reality.  In his lifetime, Cézanne was ridiculed for lack of conventional artistic skill; he did not paint like the others. But Cézanne said: “I shall astonish Paris with an apple”, what he does in this painting with apples, pears and melons.

Edouard Manet (1832 – 1883) “Le Citron” 1880, 14x22cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Le Citron by Manet, painted three years before his death, is in its seemingly simplicity one of the painter’s most powerful still lifes. Manet isolates this yellow fruit on a sober black ceramic saucer, making the fruit an important “thing”, with such bright colour and touching structure of the skin. Manet proves that less is more. Le Citron is a main character in the big world of Impressionist and Modern Art Painting.

Luis Egidio Meléndez (1716 – 1780) “Still Life with Watermelons and Apples in a Landscape” 1771, 63x84cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Luis Egidio Meléndez put his Watermelons against the backdrop of a stormy sky. Majestic, they dominate their environment. This still life was painted for the natural history cabinet of Charles de Bourbon, the Prince of Asturias and heir to the throne of Spain. The melons show such attractive freshness and a perfectionist realism that extends to even the smallest details like the fallen seeds, drops of juice and tiny bits of watermelon flesh. This painting is used for the poster of the Louvre exhibition “Things, a history of still life”. But is this a still life, is this nature morte? I dare to answer “no” and declare this painting a portrait, a portrait of two real life watermelons.

Sébastien Stoskopff (1597 – 1657) “Corbeille de verres et pâté, Basket with glasses and pâté” c.1635,  50x64cm, Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame, Musée de la Ville de Strasbourg, France.

Sébastien Stoskopff painted Basket with Glasses and Pâté, as if it’s the end of a meal when, according to German custom, the dishes are collected in a basket. The simplicity of the composition, the dark and empty background, accentuate the presence of all the things: glasses, the crust of the pâté, and the letter. The painting encourages reflection on the relationship between reality and appearance, on what art can do and how painters of everyday life made the materiality of things tangible.

Stoskopff was an painter from the Alsace, where German and French influences blend. He is one of the most important German still life painters, specializing in portraying goblets, cups and especially glasses. His works were only rediscovered after 1930 and can now be seen in some of the world’s most important art museums (MET, Louvre, KHM, Gemäldegalerie). His chief works hang in his hometown of Strasbourg.

Louise Moillon (1610 – 1696), “Coupe de cerises, prunes et melon, Bowl with cherries, plums and melon” c.1633, 48x65cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Louise Moillon, one of the most talented female painters of the 17th century, affirms her virtuoso here with this Bowl with Cherries, Plums and Melon. It’s perhaps Moillon’s most famous painting. The intense red of the cherries bursts against the dark green of the leaves, the blue touches of the plums and the orange-yellow of the melon. In this orderly and balanced composition, the painting invites us to calmly meditate on the simple beauty of things. We know of around twenty paintings by Moillon, three of which are kept in the Louvre. Louise married when she was 30, and basically did not paint anymore after her marriage. She became 86 years old. 

Anonymous, North Germany, “Nature morte aux bouteilles et aux livres, Still life with bottles and books” c.1500, Oil on Wood, 81x106cm, Museé Unterlinden Museum, Colmar.

This panel, a Trompe l’Oeil with Books and Bottles, is divided into two parts: a niche, where various objects are placed, and an upper part with two doors, one locked, the other ajar. The niche with bottles and books is like a rebus. The things represent clues about the owner of this work, and it all refers to the medical world: the books and the small ink bottle hanging above the red book refer to reading and writing, a bottle whose label reads “fur zanwe” (“for toothache”) shows that it contains medicine for toothache, a pot with ointments, a glass urinal, the medicine box, all indicate that the owner was a doctor or a barber. He commissioned this work to embed it as a panel in a piece of furniture in his interior in northern Germany. This “trompe-l’oeil”, a highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface, makes the things look real. The owner of this panel was most likely very pleased to use these “things” to trick the eye of his visitors.

Musée du Louvre, Paris, “Les choses — une histoire de la nature morte” or “Things — a history of still life”.  Until January 23, 2023.

The texts above are loosely based on the exhibition labels.

The San Diego Museum of Art

The San Diego Museum of Art

“Art of the Americas”

The San Diego Museum of Art has an eclectic collection, housed in a beautiful Spanish-style not-too-big building, located in San Diego’s Balboa Park. The Museum holds a broad collection of Arts of the Americas, Spanish old master paintings, Asian and European art. And oddly enough, one of the strongest collections of German Expressionism in the United States.

Francis Luis Mora (American, born Uruguay died New York, 1874 – 1940), “Morning News” (1912), 30x41cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Mora, known for his depiction of every day, features in this painting commuters riding close together on a streetcar, highlighting the increasing presence of women in the workplace at a time of rapid social and industrial change. Scenes of New York City, undergoing enormous transformation, blur through the window.

The original inspiration for a permanent public art gallery can be traced to the Panama-California International Exposition, held in Balboa Park during 1915–1916. The Exposition was organized to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal and to promote San Diego as a seaport. Among its numerous displays representing various industries and products was a prominent exhibition of fine arts featuring European old masters, American art, and works by California and San Diego artists. The public response to the art exhibition convinced civic leaders and prominent local artists that San Diego needed its own fine arts gallery and collection.

Guy Orlando Rose (American, 1867 – 1925), “Fisherman’s Cove, Laguna Beach” (c1918), 50x61cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Born in San Gabriel, on his father’s ranch, Rose studied at the California School of Design (now San Francisco Art Institute). He left for Paris in 1888, and soon joined the international artist colony in Giverny, home of Claude Monet. When Rose returned to California several years later in 1914, he was drawn to the scenery of La Jolla, Laguna Beach, and Carmel, painting the sun-drenched vistas in a vigorous and loose impressionistic style. Rose’s experience in France and his passion for the local scenery made him a central figure in the movement of California Impressionism. 

Planning for the new museum began in 1922. A prominent site on the north side of Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama was secured. As “The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego”, the museum officially opened its doors on February 28, 1926.

Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887 – 1986), “The White Trumpet Flower” (1932), 76x101cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Despite the influence of many established artists, O’Keeffe was able to develop her own distinctive response to modernism, separating herself from her contemporaries through her focused study of the natural world and, specifically, the copious canvases in which she presented flowers. She often enlarged flowers, making a single bloom dominate the entire pictorial space. In The White Trumpet Flower, O’Keeffe explores the beauty of nature and emphasizes formal qualities such as shape, color, and line. The independence O’Keeffe exuded in her paintings was reflected in her creative practice as she refined her artistic process and kept to a consistent regime. She stretched and primed her own canvases, kept cardboard squares of her favorite colors, which she typically used to select her color palette before beginning a work, and often visualized a work completely before she began painting.

The architect William Templeton Johnson (1877–1950) designed and constructed the new art gallery. The Spanish Colonial–style architecture from the 1915 Exposition suggested the style for Johnson’s design. Johnson however, went one step further and looked directly to sixteenth-century Spanish Renaissance models for inspiration. For the building’s exterior, they borrowed motifs from the Cathedral of Valladolid, Spain, and the façade of the University of Salamanca, Spain, while for the interior they adapted features of the Hospital de la Santa Cruz in Toledo, Spain. Also enhancing the façade with the addition of sculptural elements including life-sized sculptures of Spanish Old Master painters Velázquez, Murillo, and Zurbarán as well as heraldic devices and the coats-of-arms of Spain, the United States, California, and San Diego.

Juan Sánchez Cotán (Spanish, 1560 – 1627), “Still Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber” (1602), 69x84cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Still-life painting was virtually nonexistent in European art before the 1590s, and Juan Sánchez Cotán is among the first practitioners of the genre and this work is universally acclaimed as his masterpiece. Brilliantly executed, the painting is unflinching in its naturalism and simplicity. The mysterious serenity of the composition has led many to question the meaning or function of the image. For some, the work is an exercise in pure painting and a straightforward depiction of vegetables in a cold cellar. Others however, believe that the picture may have religious overtones, and that it should be understood as a celebration of God’s most humble creations. In support of the latter reading, it is often noted that Sánchez Cotán gave up his possessions and entered a Carthusian monastery in 1603.
Juan Manuel Hernández (Costa Rican, 1969), “Paisaje de Cachi” (2002), 80x100cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Hernández paints what he calls “the essence” of his native Costa Rica, currently the most biologically diverse area on the planet, in a deliberately historical and realistic style to evoke what may be lost if care is not taken for its fragile ecosystems.
Raphaelle Peale (American, 1774 – 1825), “Still-life with Peaches” (1816), 35x55cm, The San Diego Museum of Art.
Raised in Philadelphia, a center of American art, Peale preferred still life painting, even though he was an able portrait painter and portraits were more lucrative. Around 1812, Peale began to focus on still lifes, as his ill health interfered with his ability to interact with sitters. In fact, Peale was one of the first American painters to make the still life the focus of his oeuvre.

The San Diego Museum of Art
1450 El Prado
Balboa Park, San Diego, CA

Asparagus in Art

Asparagus in Art

The end of the traditional asparagus season is June 24th, which is the day of the Christian celebration of the nativity of John the Baptist. Asparagus, the “White Gold”, is nowadays available much longer, but traditionally it’s a real season-vegetable. In ancient Greece, asparagus was considered a plant with sacred and aphrodisiac virtues. Starting in the 16th century, asparagus was served in the royal courts of Europe and in the 17th century it was cultivated in France for Louis XIV who was, apparently, very fond of it. Only in the 18th century did the asparagus make its appearance on the local marketplace.

Adriaen Coorte (1660 – 1707), “Asparagus and red currants on a stone ledge” (c.1695), 34x24cm, Oil on Paper on Board, Auctioned Christies 2012, Private Collection.

Coorte produced small and modest still lifes. On this painting the asparagus, together with some red currants, contrast much with the larger sumptuous still live paintings that were fashionable in those days. Coorte painted on paper which was glued on board, opposed to the large oil on canvas or oil on panel pieces produced by his painter colleagues. Perhaps Coorte was more an amateur painter who had no studio space available and worked from home.

Jacob Foppens van Es (1596 – 1666), “Still Life with Fish, Asparagus, Artichokes, Cheese and Other Delicacies” (c.1631), 82x138cm, Oil on Canvas, Auctioned Sotheby’s 2011, Private Collection.

This grand still life by Jacob Foppens van Es is a painting where all the products are neatly displayed next to each other on a tabletop, as was the common way of displaying in the early days of still life painting. The two bundles of asparagus give it a bit of a frivolous touch. He belongs to the first generation of still life painters. Only later the arrangements become more artificially put together and food was painted together with flowers, animals, shells and various objects.

Jan Fijt (1611 – 1661), “Vase of Flowers and Two Bunches of Asparagus” (c.1650), 64x75cm, Oil on Canvas, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.

Jan Fyt, a painter from Flanders, travelled quite a bit and worked in Paris, Venice, and Rome. This still life is painted towards the end of his career when he was back in Antwerp and it’s in a remarkable style with free and loose brushstrokes. Almost with an impressionist touch.

Edouard Manet (1832–1883), “Bunch of Asparagus” (1880), 46x55cm, Oil on Canvas, Wallraf–Richartz Museum, Cologne, Germany.

Manet, a French painter and key figure in the transition from realism to impressionism, painted this rather big still live with asparagus in a free style, and shows with pleasure the beauty of such simple things like these asparagus on a marble table. It was painted for the French art collector Charles Ephrussi, who gave Manet 1000 francs for it, although Manet only asked for 800 as a purchase price. Manet then painted another much smaller piece with just one asparagus on the same marble tabletop. He sent that as a gift to Charles Ephrussi with a note: “There was one missing from your bunch”. Manet’s bunch of asparagus can be seen in Cologne, the one lonely asparagus is still in Paris.

Edouard Manet (1832-1883), “L’asperge” (1880), 17x22cm, Oil on Canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
Louise Moillon (1610 – 1696), “Still Life with a Basket of Fruit and a Bunch of Asparagus” (1630), 53x71cm, Oil on Panel, Art Institute Chicago.

Louise Moillon is considered one of the best still life painters of her times. About forty paintings remain, which were mostly bought by royalty and nobility. At the age of thirty she married and stopped painting. Louise Moillon’s Basket of Fruit and a Bunch of Asparagus is a composition of all seasons: cherries, grapes, plums and asparagus. All seasonal products, but on this still life painting they live together in a timeless harmony.

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594 – 1680)

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594 – 1680), “Still Life with a Roemer and Watch” (1629), 46x69cm, Oil on Panel, Mauritshuis, The Hague.

Let’s have Sunday brunch 17th Century style! And that’s best done with Willem Claesz. Heda, Dutch Golden Age painter from Haarlem, The Netherlands. He specialized in the genre of “banketjes” and “ontbijtjes” (banquets and breakfasts), and most of them in a monochrome manner. Not much known about his life, not even an exact date of birth or death. But his legacy can be seen in the important museums all over the world. Let’s have a closer look at the one from the National Gallery of Art in Washington. And let’s find the hidden message in what seemingly is just a banquet still life painting.

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594 – 1680), “Banquet Piece with Mince Pie” (1635), 107x111cm, Oil on Canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

This is the aftermath of a feast meal; a table filled with exotic food, luxurious tableware and precious glasses. The lemon and olives have been imported from the Mediterranean. The salt – expensive in those days – can been seen on a silver salt cellar. The mince pie, filled with meat and fruits and spices, is a dish for special occasions and on this painting has clearly been eaten already. A glass broke, the goblet fell over and the candle went out. But the message is shown exactly in the middle and in the front; it even sticks out of the painting right into our face. And that’s the piece of bread. The roll has not been touched. Bread in the Eucharistic meaning represents the body of Christ. Heda tells us that we should not overlook the Christian faith while being seduced by the pleasures and richness of food and earthly goods.

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594 – 1680), “Still Life with a Ham, Bread and Precious Vessels” (1654), 105x147cm, Oil on Canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

And here is another still life breakfast painting by Heda. It’s from the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. On the table a ham, lemon, oysters, the salt on the silver salt cellar, precious vessels, Venetian glass and even a “nautilus cup”, made of the nautilus shell imported from the Far East. This painting shows the wealth of a rich merchant from the Dutch Golden Age. But also here, on the left side of the table, is that very modest, untouched, lonely piece of bread. All the richness on one side of the table and on the other side, at that pure white clean tablecloth, the power of the Christian faith, symbolized by a simple bread roll. I guess the owners of these paintings, those rich merchants in the 17th Century, liked to show off their wealth and their taste for international and exotic treasures, but they also wanted to show how modest and down-to-earth they were. It’s true Calvinist behavior; almost as an excuse for wealth and success.