Pieter Claesz

Pieter Claesz – Successful still life painter in Haarlem

Pieter Claesz was born in Berchem near Antwerp in 1596 or 1597. He probably trained as a painter in Antwerp, which still belonged to the Spanish Netherlands at that time, and in 1621 went to Haarlem, a prosperous city with a wealthy middle class that considered art ownership a desirable status symbol. This offered an ideal environment for the talented painter, and it was certainly no consequence that the same year saw the beginning of the impressive series of signed and dated works which, whilst revealing a continuous development of styles, are thematically limited to the banketje, i.e., the laid table. Claesz’ membership of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke is only verifiable from the later date of 1634. Despite this, his success as an artist was immense and unprecedented for his time, with the Haarlem estate list of the 17th century listing Pieter Claesz more frequently than any other painter.

Development of his own style

Pieter Claesz’ early work in particular displays influences from Osias Beert and Clara Peeters, and a reference to Floris van Dyck and Nicolas Gillis is suspected. However, Claesz soon developed his own unmistakable style of pictorial construction which probably contributed significantly to his success. He increasingly lightened the conventional dark backgrounds of his still lifes to astonishing effect whilst simultaneously reducing his colour palette to the point of monochrome. Pieter Claesz made such an impression on his contemporaries that in 1628 Samuel Ampzing singled him out by name in his poetic praise of Haarlem. Claesz remained unrivalled in his mastery for a long time; only Willem Claesz Heda achieved a similar mastery, but he also closely followed Claesz’ model overall. Over the years, Claesz’ pictures became increasingly baroque with the precious objects depicted ever more splendid, the palette taking on luminous accents, the lighting an effective shape. Only the master’s canon of motifs remained the same throughout his life. 

Painter of the noble and precious

In the composition of his motifs, Pieter Claesz did not reflect everyday life; on the contrary, his painted tableware is extremely costly, the dishes exquisite, exotic animals or musical instruments are sometimes incorporated as decorative elements. It was certainly this aura of the noble and exclusive that gifted him such a large clientele. In the last years of his life, Pieter Claesz suffered under the economic decline of Haarlem and the commissions became rarer and fewer pictures could be sold. His exact date of death is as vague as his date of birth, but it is certain that he must have died in Haarlem before 1 January 1661. The artist was married twice. His son, the painter Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem from his first marriage, mainly concentrated on landscapes, in contrast to his father.