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Jan Davidsz de Heem’s Masterpieces to be Exhibited Together for the First Time in Centuries

A remarkable exhibition featuring a selection of notable still lifes by the Dutch artist Jan Davidsz de Heem will be showcased at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. This will mark the first time in hundreds of years that these significant works will be displayed collectively.

De Heem, recognized as a leading figure in the ornate still life genre known as pronkstilleven during the Dutch Golden Age, created these paintings to highlight sumptuous visuals filled with elaborate food presentations and luxurious artifacts.

The exhibition will include four of his iconic works: Fruits and Rich Dishes on a Table (1640), on loan from the Louvre; Still Life with Boy and Parrots (1641), borrowed from the Brussels City Museum; and Still Life in a Palatial Setting (1642), which is sourced from a private collection. Additionally, Banquet Still Life (1643) has been on display at the museum since 2023 and holds an estimated value of £6 million.

Entitled Picturing Excess, the exhibition will open on December 3. It aims to contextualize De Heem’s works within the backdrop of 17th-century European expansion, an era characterized by the display of newfound wealth and international trade. These works reflect the opulence of the age, where the affluent showcased their prosperity through elaborate artistic representations.

The Fitzwilliam Museum acknowledges that these paintings not only portray “an extensive collection of lavish commodities” but also evoke themes of “excess, abundance, and colonialism.” Notably, Still Life with Boy and Parrots includes the depiction of an enslaved African boy, highlighting the complexities of wealth during that period.

The museum elaborated on the deeper implications of De Heem’s creations, stating, “While these paintings are designed to exhibit the wealth and worldly knowledge of their owners, they also impart moral lessons about the fleeting nature of material riches.”

De Heem’s artistry is celebrated for its brilliant realism, with critics likening his work to modern concepts of aesthetic indulgence. Jonathan Jones, an art critic for the Guardian, referred to another of De Heem’s pieces, Still Life with Lobster (1643), as the “17th-century Dutch answer to food porn,” underscoring the artist’s ability to tantalize through visual representation.

Picturing Excess: Jan Davidsz de Heem will be on view at the Fitzwilliam Museum from December 3 through April 13, 2025.

Source
www.theguardian.com