This still life of fruit is the earliest known dated work by Pieter Claesz. It is distinctly dated 1621, the year in which the artist is assumed to have settled in Haarlem. In the previous year, 1620, a Pieter Clasen(s) had been registered as a master painter by the Antwerp guild of St. Luke. It is presumed that this was the still-life painter now commonly known as Pieter Claesz., who subsequently moved north to Haarlem. The fact that in 1620 he already was a master painter, as well as the high quality of this mature still life from 1621, confirm that he had fully completed his training as a painter. It is unknown, however, who his teacher was and what he painted in the previous years.

This early still life clearly shows that Pieter Claesz. must have known work by Antwerp predecessors such as Osias Beert (c.1580-1621), of whose rather staccato arrangements of dishes upon a table it is reminiscent (cf. Beert’s painting in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum from the 1610s, which also includes porcelain dishes of cherries and of strawberries). Also, Claesz. may well have been aware of the innovative still lifes by Clara Peeters (active 1607-1621 or later), such as one from c.1611, that also includes a small roemer, an orange, and a stoneware jug, placed upon an unfolded damask cloth (fig. 1, Madrid, Museo del Prado). In addition, there seems to be a connection with early works, from the mid-1610s, by Jacob van Hulsdonck (1582-1647), which also include porcelain dishes of red fruit on a table covered with damask (cf. an example in Barnard Castle, Bowes Museum, dated 1614).

At the same t.mes , Claesz.’s still life seamlessly connects with work by artists already active in Haarlem in the 1610s, such as Floris van Dijck (c.1575-1651) and Nicolaes Gillis (active circa 1612-1632 or later). Their compositions from that decade are usually more complex and full, however. Claesz.’s image is more intimate and atmospheric than theirs. Also, his composition looks more natural, as he lowered the viewpoint, for which he may have found inspiration in the work of Clara Peeters. Compared with the still lifes of those earlier painters, the light in this piece by Pieter Claesz. is stronger and more dramatic, which gives the image a greater presence. Also, it allowed the artist to define his objects more strongly. They include choice fruit and olives, upon dishes of high quality, including two plates of costly Wan-li porcelain, recently imported from China, and an elaborately decorated German stoneware jug, probably from a kiln in the Westerwald, then a modern and probably fashionable piece. The mulberries presented on a green leaf may be a typical Haarlem feature: a drawn study by Floris van Dijck of strawberries presented in this manner from 1624 exists (The Hague, Royal Library).

With this excellent still life, Pieter Claesz. kicked off a highly successful career as a painter of still lifes, a career that would span almost a full four decades.

-Fred Meijer