Pieter Claesz Biography | Oil Paintings

Born in Haarlem in the Netherlands in 1597, Pieter Claesz grew up in the town which was the center of the Dutch flower trade, so it was not surprising that he developed an early interest in floral painting.

He grew up at a time when this style was being introduced to Holland by Flemish refugees, Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder and Balthasar van der Aalst. Pieter Claesz went on to develop the type of still life known as the breakfast or banquet picture, much less ebullient than the colorful flower paintings with more somber tones suited to the intimate atmosphere of domestic interiors. In 1621 he came to Haarlem, a prospering city with a wealthy middle class striving for art. This year begins the series of his dated and signed works, which show a stylistic development altogether, but his subjects are limited to banketje, the theme of the covered table.

Pieter Claesz developed the Banquet Still Life.

His image constructions, which were regarded as novel, made him one of the most innovative still-life painters. His artistic success was enormous. No other painter has shown so many pictures in Haarlem's 17th-century estate inventories.

Pieter Claesz took this further than his contemporaries, creating an almost monochrome effect and relying on the precise juxtaposition of each object which then took on a symbolic meaning. He pioneered a style that was emulated by many Dutch artists of the succeeding generation. In his oil painting Vanitas Still Life with Self-Portrait you can see in the ball on the left side, his reflection and easel of him painting this scene.

 Art Movement: Dutch Golden Age.
Artists Influencing Pieter Claesz: Caravaggio, Balthasar van Alst, Ambrosius Bosschaert.
Painters Pieter Claesz Influenced: Nicolaes Berchem, Evert van Aelst, Floris van Dyck, Christian Berentz, Floris van Schooten, Jan Jansz Treck.
Artist's Biography compiled by Albert L. Mansour at The World's Artist.