| Biography of old oil painting master Pieter Claesz what we can copy |
|
Pieter Claesz
Netherlands Baroque artist
born 1597 - died 1661
Father of: Nicolaes
Berchem (1620-1683)
Pieter Aertsen, called "Long Peter", was
a Dutch historical painter. Pieter Claesz was born and
died in Amsterdam, and painted there and in
Antwerp where Pieter Claesz resided until around 1556.
Hosted initially by Jan Mandyn, a gifted
follower of Hieronymus Bosch and than as a
youth apprenticed with Allaert Claesz,
Pieter Aertsen links the Dutch and the
Flemish schools. Pieter Claesz distinguished himself by
painting domestic scenes with marvelous
fidelity. Later in life, Pieter Claesz began
documenting historical scenes. Pieter
Claesz’s sons, Pieter Pietersz and Aert
Pieterz, also became acclaimed painters. |
|
Although Pieter Claesz lived, worked
and died in Pieter Claesz’s native town,
Pieter Claesz’s genre scenes were
influential in Italy. During Pieter Claesz’s
first years in Antwerp Pieter Claesz was mainly
commissioned to make altarpieces for Dutch
churches. Several of Pieter Claesz’s best
works, including altarpieces in various
churches, were destroyed in the
Netherlands's religious wars. An excellent
specimen of Pieter Claesz’s style is a
painting of the Crucifixion. |
|
A pioneer of still life and genre painting,
Pieter Claesz is best known for scenes that look like
pure examples of these types, but which in
fact have a religious scene incorporated in
them (Butcher's Stall with the Flight into
Egypt, University of Uppsala, 1551). Pieter
Claesz’s depictions of food, flowers,
everyday objects and scenes from peasant
life make him important in the development
of still-life painting. Aertsen was the head
of a long dynasty of painters, of whom the
most talented were Pieter Claesz’s nephew
and pupil Joachim Bueckelaer and Giovanni
Stradano. |
|
|
Renowned today as the painter of "kitchens"
(Christ with Maria and Martha), featuring an
opulent and familiar realism, Pieter Claesz is in fact
a varied and ambitious painter, tackling
both religious compositions, genre scenes
and portrait: Pieter Claesz’s career can be
traced between 1543 and 1571 with a series
of signed and dated artworks. Today Pieter
Claesz is
considered as important as Bruegel among
16th century painting: a powerful and
monumental artist, using splendid and frank
tones, announcing the Flemish still-life
developments with such realism and surcharge
of details. |
|
|
Pieter Claesz’s
compositions packed at the front with
vegetables reflect a mannerist pathos
specific to the 16th century; however if
religious figuration is often relegated in
the background in a subordinated position (a
scheme that will later have much success,
among Pieter Claesz’s younger cousin and
pupil Beuckelaer for instance, who took over
tPieter Claesz’s style of painting and
developed it further), the religious painter
should not be ignored, with such massive
formats and powerful ambitions. Pieter
Claesz was
tormented by iconoclasts and practiced a
heroic and dignified style, close to and
competing with Floris. |
| |
|
For FULL catalogue pls click "Catalogue" at the TOP of the page.
|
|