Critical Archive of the Visual and Related Arts
Willem Claesz. Heda
Dutch; 17th-century
Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum
80%
Still Life with a Tankard, a Plate of Oysters, and Glasses on a Table. 1636. Oil on wood panel
Before getting into what makes this painting great, its bottom right corner has to at least be mentioned: there the front surface of the tablecloth is on a frolic of its own, sharing its palette with the creamy brown background behind it but teeming with all sorts of touches and blooming hues that make it seem like a moment of painterly extravagance all to itself. But that's not the main course. What is is the network of pregnant spaces between Heda's tabled objects: an arabesque between the prunted beaker and the ewer; the cradling of an oyster shell by the cruet's spout; the sliver between the bronze saucer and the right edge of the cruet's bulb. Relative to other Dutch still lifes (by Snyders, van der Ast), there's an emptiness to this one that makes the placement of its objects seem that much more intended. Also, there are many little affinities between unlike objects: the squeezed lemon doubles the platter; the crumpled paper doubles an oyster; the snail shells double the beaker's nodes; the front of the table doubles the wall. This implies a vague metaphorical dimension to the picture that enhances the impact of the placement of its objects without making it seem like a semantic puzzle. (TFS, 2026)