Clara Peeters
Encyclopedia
Clara Peeters was a Flemish
painter noted for painting still life
s, particularly of breakfast scenes and florals.
and The Hague
. Her first known work was dated 1608, when she was 14. The quality of this work reveals a master teacher, and scholars believe she was influenced by Osias Beert
. He was probably also an influence on the flower paintings of her contemporary, Catarina Ykens I (1608/1618 – 1666/1685), who was the wife of Frans Ykens, a pupil of Beert's. Clara Peeters's last painting was dated 1657, and is now lost. The circumstances of her death are unknown.
The view, advanced by some contemporary art historians, that Peeters has been underrated because she was a woman is addressed in the opening scene of Wendy Wasserstein
's play The Heidi Chronicles
.
According to the RKD, her style of still life painting influenced the painters Floris van Dyck, Nicolaes Cave, and Artus Claessens.
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
painter noted for painting still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
s, particularly of breakfast scenes and florals.
Life
Few details of her life are known. She was baptized in Antwerp in 1594, and married there in 1639. She is known to have lived in AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. Her first known work was dated 1608, when she was 14. The quality of this work reveals a master teacher, and scholars believe she was influenced by Osias Beert
Osias Beert
Osias Beert was a Flemish Baroque painter who specialized in flower and "breakfast"-type still lifes. He joined the city's Guild of St. Luke in 1608, and trained Frans van der Borch, Frans IJkens, Paulus Pontius and Jan Willemssen. Beerts's floral paintings, often showing a vase of flowers in a...
. He was probably also an influence on the flower paintings of her contemporary, Catarina Ykens I (1608/1618 – 1666/1685), who was the wife of Frans Ykens, a pupil of Beert's. Clara Peeters's last painting was dated 1657, and is now lost. The circumstances of her death are unknown.
Work
Meticulous in detail, Peeters included miniature self portraits within the reflections she painted. She was also very skilled at distinguishing textures. In her Still-Life of Fish and Cat, the coat of the cat is almost touchable and the reflections create the illusion of space. Some believe religious symbolism was prevalent in her paintings; here the fish, symbol of Christ, is placed in the position of a cross. (Gaze Delia ed. Peeters 1081).The view, advanced by some contemporary art historians, that Peeters has been underrated because she was a woman is addressed in the opening scene of Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein was an American playwright and an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University...
's play The Heidi Chronicles
The Heidi Chronicles
The Heidi Chronicles is a 1988 play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.-Production history:A workshop production at Seattle Repertory Theatre was held in April 1988, directed by Daniel J. Sullivan....
.
According to the RKD, her style of still life painting influenced the painters Floris van Dyck, Nicolaes Cave, and Artus Claessens.