Exhibition view of Pieter Claesz: Still Lives © KHM-Museumsverband.

VIENNA - The Kunsthistorisches Museum presents in cooperation with Kaiserschild Foundation, Alte Galerie of the Universalmuseum Joanneum Graz and Kunst Museum Winterthur a special exhibition on the Dutch Baroque painter Pieter Claesz (1597/98–1660), and thus focusses for the first time on this important representative of seventeenth century still life painting.

The small exhibition features three atmospherically rich still life paintings by Pieter Claesz: 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 the three main works by Pieter Claesz, the Kunsthistorisches Museum is showing digitised versions of the highest quality that have been specially prepared for art education. A multimedia table invites visitors to engage with the still lifes in an interactive and in-depth way.

Following the successful premiere at Ars Electronica 2024, the Kaiserschild Foundation is bringing the production to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 2025, followed by the Kunst Museum Winterthur and the Alte Galerie de Universalmuseum Joanneum Graz.

The many facets of still life in the work of Pieter Claesz Pieter Claesz (c.1597/98–1660), Flemish by birth, establishes himself in Haarlem around 1620, an economically prospering city. Thanks to influential brewers and wealthy Antwerp merchants who had fled the Spanish occupation, the city became one of the most important centres of art in the Netherlands.

Claesz further developes the tradition of Haarlem still life painting and is regarded as the founder of the new type of ‘laid tables’. With a visual language reduced to the essentials – muted colours, few objects – he creates small meal pictures (known as ‘ontbijtje’ or ‘banketje’), which became his trademark. Claesz painted around 230 paintings during his 40- year creative period. He is justifiably famous for his subtle use of colour and light and his skill in depicting different surfaces.

In 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. An opulently laid table with exquisite dishes and precious vessels reflects the wealth of the upper classes. The media table gives visitors an insight into the origins of the status symbols on display. In addition, the magnificent vessels depicted are contextualized with comparable objects from today’s art chambers.

Pieter Claesz (1597/98–1660), Still Life with Fruit Pie, Overturned Silver Tazza, Gilt Cup, and a ‘Roemer’ (wine glass), 1637, oil on wood, Kunst Museum Winterthur, Gift of the Jakob Briner Foundation, 2018 © Kunst Museum Winterthur

In Still Life with Glass Goblet (1642), Pieter Claesz depicts a simple Dutch snack typical of his time with herring, onions, bread, and beer. His masterful use of illusion techniques as well as his handling of light and reflections in a monochrome colour palette are particularly evident in this painting, which is explored in more detail in individual chapters at the media table.
 

Pieter Claesz (c. 1598–1661), Still Life with Glass Goblet, 1642. Universalmuseum Joanneum, Alte Galerie Schloss Eggenberg, Leihgabe Kaiserschild-Stiftung, Inv.-Nr. L 82 © Foto: UMJ/N. Lackner

In the Vanitas Still Life (1656), the artist thematizes the transience of life. Visitors can explore the objects depicted in the painting, including a skull, a fallen glass (‘Roman’) and a clock, as special points of interest at the interactive media table and learn more about their symbolism.

Pieter Claesz (1597/98–1660), Vanitas Still Life, 1656, oil on wood, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Picture Gallery © KHM-Museumsverband