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Historical Artist - Pieter Claesz (1597 - 1660)
Pieter Claesz was born in Haarlem and developed an early interest in floral painting.
Influenced by Flemish painters with similar still-life interest, Ambrosius Bosschaert and
Balthasar van der Alst, Claesz began to develop the breakfast or banquet picture, a genre of
still-life that’s subdued tones were suitable in domestic interiors. Many later
generations of Dutch artists copied his reticent coloring and symbolic compositions. He and
Willem Claeszoon Heda, who also worked in Haarlem, were the most important exponents of the
"ontbijt" or breakfast piece. They painted with subdued, virtually monochromatic
palettes, the subtle handling of light and texture being the prime means of expression. Claesz
generally chose objects of a more homely kind than Heda, although his later work became more
colourful and decorative. The two men founded a distinguished tradition of still life painting
in Haarlem, but Claesz's son, Nicolaes Berchem, became famous as a landscape painter. Claesz's
still lifes often suggest allegorical purpose, with skulls serving as reminders of human
mortality.
Contemporary Dutch Artists
Art Galleries in the Netherlands
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