Clara Peeters

ca. 1587 – after 1636

Active in: The Netherlands
Alternate names: Pieters

Biography

Clara Peeters is best known for her still life paintings. She is one of the first and most well-known Flemish women to have specialized in such works. The concrete details of Peeters’s life are not well-known, but records indicate that she was born in Antwerp in 1594 and married in 1639. Her first signed work was completed at age fourteen. By age eighteen, she was painting prolifically. She worked for decades and was still active in the 1650s, but her date of death is not known.

Selected Works

A table is laid out with a variety of deceased birds, including a duck with a green head and a quail, both in a basket, and a chicken alongside it. A hawk is alive and perched on the edge of the basket. Next to the birds is a stack fo white bowls and some seashells in different shapes and colors.

Clara Peeters, Still Life with a Sparrow Hawk, Fowl, Porcelain and Shells, 1611. Oil on canvas, 52 x 71 cm. Museo del Prado

A table has a large half wheel of cheese on a platter, with another smaller chunk of cheese next to it and stacked above, with a smaller plate stacked on top of the cheese pile. In front of the platter, several pretzels lay on the table and almonds are in a blue porcelain dish. Behind all of this, bread, a liquor decanter, and a wine jug are nearby.

Clara Peeters, Still Life with Cheeses, Almonds, and Pretzels, 1615. Oil on canvas, 34.5 x 49.5 cm. Mauritshuis

A table is stacked with food on two silver platters. On the smaller platter, a halved artichoke is sitting up next to a few bright red cherries. On the larger platter, half a wheel of cheese sits with a a smaller wedge next to it, a third wedge on top, and a small plate on top of the cheese pile. A metal jar or canister is nearby. In front of the platters, a round loaf and three cherries sit directly on the table.

Clara Peeters, Still Life with Cheeses, Artichoke, and Cherries, ca. 1625. Oil on panel, 33.34 x 46.67 cm. Los Angeles County Art Museum

A table with a silver tablecloth is spread with food. The largest platters contain one crab, at the left, many shrimps, in the center, and one large lobster, on the right. In front of the seafood platters, three different kinds of baked breads or loaves are arranged, along with a bowl of eggs. Behind the seafood, a large stack of half-wheels of cheese is displayed, along with a glass wine vessel and a metal wine jug.

Clara Peeters, Still Life with Crab, Shrimps, and Lobster, ca. 1635-40. Oil on wood panel, 70.8 x 108.9 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

A table is spread with two platters of whole fish, some big and some small, with a few shrimps on the table in front of the platters and five or six small crabs off to one side. Behind teh seafood, a whole artichoke is in a metal colander next to an unlit candle and a jug.

Clara Peeters, Still Life with Fish, a Candle, Artichokes, Crab and Prawns, 1611. Oil on panel, 50 x 72 cm. Museo del Prado

A plate with one large shrimp and one small shrimp sits on a table. In front of this plate, several seashells, five shrimps, and two oysters on a silver platter also sit on the table.

Clara Peeters, Still Life with Fish, Oysters, and Shrimps, n.d. Oil on panel, 25 x 34.8 cm. Rijksmuseum

A table is set with food and flowers. On the left, a vase contains roses, daffodils, tulips, and other colorful flowers. Next to it, in the center of the image, a large white bowl contains dried fruit and nuts, with a gold-colored goblet in front of the bowl near the edge of the table. To the right of the bowl and goblet, a silver platter has several breadsticks and pretzels on it. Behind these, a glass containing red wine and a dark gray pitcher with a long spout are also shown.

Clara Peeters, Still Life with Flowers, a Silver-Gilt Goblet, Almonds, Dried Fruit, Sweetmeats, Bread Sticks, Wine, and a Pewter Pitcher, 1611. Oil on panel, 52 x 73 cm. Museo del Prado

A table with a silvery-blue tablecloth is set with a roast bird, green olives, a pie with a geometric pattern on the top, a bread roll, and an orange. Behind the food, a silver cylinder with salt on top is next to a gold-colored drinking vessel with a very wide, very shallow bowl. On the other side, a wine glass with liquid and a cream-colored pitcher.

Clara Peeters, Still life with Tazza, Jug, Saltcellar, 1611. Oil on panel, 55 x 73 cm. Museo del Prado

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Selected works

Circle

Bibliography

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