Flemish artist Clara Peeters was a pioneer for female still life painters in the 17th century, despite restrictions on women’s access to artistic training and membership in guilds. She was known for her meticulous brushwork and her ability to capture the precise textures of objects. She worked both in the Spanish Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, and specialized in paintings of meals. She shaped the tradition of Netherlandish ontbijtjes, or “breakfast pieces”, which centered simple kitchen utensils, and by contrast the banketjes, or “banquet pieces”, which showcased expensive cups and kitchen implements.
Peeters was one of the earliest specialist still life painters , working before the genre got any scholarly or public attention. In addition, her paintings of fish (dated from around 1611) were said to have appeared well before other artists painted this subject matter. That being said, in her works prior to 1620, Peeters was preoccupied mainly by the concept of light, painting it falling on miscellaneous metal objects, such as coins and goblets. Many of her paintings also showed her reflection in the stemware, something that was a common custom in Netherlandish art, as can also be seen in works by Jan van Eyck. Peeters’ influential paintings and ideas were promulgated throughout what we nowadays call Netherlands and Germany. In addition, those who adopted her style are considered to be members of her prominent artistic school, also known as the “circle of Peeters”.
At Dan Alexander &co, we were greatly inspired by Peters, and used the technique of reflections in a mirror to create an additional dimension in our project for Ceasarstone. By placing a mirror in the frame, we were able to create a 3D dimension and give it new and innovative meanings, allowing the viewer to look at still life compositions from both the front and the back, altering their perception of space and dimension.
