2016.241: Still Life with Fruit and Chestnuts
PaintingsGallery Text
Trained by his father, Cornelis de Heem belonged to three generations of artists who specialized in paintings of assembled fruits, flowers, and luxury objects. Here, De Heem depicts fruits and nuts overflowing from a silver plate on a stone tabletop. Originating from exotic locations far from Holland, these edible delicacies suggest the wide availability of goods in the Northern Netherlands and the reach of Dutch trade in the period. This still life invites the viewer to look beneath the surface of the elements; for instance, some of the peaches and figs are shown split open to expose their insides. It also encourages an appreciation of the painter’s representational skill, demonstrated in the naturalistic depiction of the withered skin of the grapes, prickly spikes of the chestnuts, and reflective surface of the silver plate.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2016.241
- People
-
Cornelis Jansz de Heem, Dutch (Leiden 1631 - 1695 Antwerp)
- Title
- Still Life with Fruit and Chestnuts
- Other Titles
- Former Title: A Still Life with Fruit and Chestnuts upon a Stone Ledge Draped with a Brocaded Blue Cloth
- Classification
- Paintings
- Work Type
- painting
- Date
- c. 1655-65
- Culture
- Dutch
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/356429
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
-
29.6 × 37.4 cm (11 5/8 × 14 3/4 in.)
framed: 48 × 56 cm (18 7/8 × 22 1/16 in.) - Inscriptions and Marks
-
- inscription: painted on stone ledge: C. DE HEEM
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
-
Private Collection, United Kingdom. [1] [Phillips, London, July 4, 1989, lot 87], sold; to [Johnny van Haeften, Ltd., London], sold; to Peter and Anne Brooke, Boston 1994
Notes
[1] Information provided by Dr. Fred G. Meijer of RKD in November 2016.
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Peter and Anne Brooke
- Accession Year
- 2016
- Object Number
- 2016.241
- Division
- European and American Art
- Contact
- am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Publication History
- Fine Old Master Paintings, auct. cat., Phillips, London (London, July 4, 1989), pp. 114-115, lot 84, repr. p. 115 and cover
Exhibition History
- 32Q: 2400 French/Italian/Spanish, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/14/2017 - 01/10/2018
Related Works
Verification Level
This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu