Still Life with Oysters by Claesz in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2019

Still Life with Oysters, a Silver Tazza, and Glassware,1635


Object Details

Artist: Willem Claesz Heda (Dutch, Haarlem? 1594–1680 Haarlem)

Date: 1635

Medium: Oil on wood

Dimensions: 19 5/8 x 31 3/4 in. (49.8 x 80.6 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: From the Collection of Rita and Frits Markus, Bequest of Rita Markus, 2005

Accession Number: 2005.331.4


A table laid with oysters, a lemon, and beer invites the viewer to associate visual and culinary pleasure. But a closer look reveals broken glass and a cone of paper (intended to hold spices) torn from an almanac, both reminders of our swiftly passing days. Heda made a name for himself as an artist by achieving a variety of pictorial effects, such as the illusion of polished silver, glistening oysters, or reflective glass, while working almost exclusively in shades of gray.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438376