Claesz masterfully renders a variety of challenges in this work of unexpected
subject matter. Reflection, transparency, translucence and opaqueness are
developed to near-optical precision. This is more than a simple still life;
somehow Claesz has tinged the canvas with an air of tension, something near
foreboding, in a way that is not easy to explain, but the choice to depict
rotting food will best describe this better than any description I am
capable of arranging. The placement of the scene in relation to it’s boundaries
is also a source. Compositionally, there is a generous block of negative space,
which causes the still life to be cropped on the right side, a deliberate and
instinctually masterful choice.
This painting is an exercise in the use of color purity, which is this work’s backbone. There is no truly influence-free color to be found, but the the value states of the black table and white cloth are the most terminal portions to be found on the canvas (ie, they lay on the “terminals” of the value scale, and in this way are the most “pure”). For any student of the arts that’s starting out, any time you see a watch, sundial, clock or other time-keeping device on a canvas, your sensitivity to symbols should be piqued. In this case, it’s impossible for me to say whether a sliver of a moment or an extended series of minutes is captured.
The naturalism of this piece relates the subjects with each other in space more than any other measure. That said, their proximities are further implied by transparency and gestalt. A blended combination of artificial light reflections and modelling further develops the subjects; contrasts in value do more to ground them on their surface than push-and-pull the subjects in space. The overall result is plastic depth “trapped” in a compressed field of view.
The abrupt transition from formless, dead space to a meandering interplay of curved and angled edges, highlights and polarized values placed in close proximity other create a truly dynamic, charged composition of static subjects. While the unbalanced presence of energy is undeniable, this work subtly binds through color purity, subject size relatability and the unique subject definition Claesz employs.
What does Claesz intend to be the primary focal point? The still life is in focus and all subjects are richly developed. Four local areas vie for attention. This could be my bias as a hopeless art student showing through, but the optical development of the dead space-penetrating glass is first. Below, stark transitions in value are found where the awkward position of the display piece overlaps the same glass, second. Third, the brightest chroma on the canvas is found in the lower-right corner, addressing the pieces’ title. Last is the interplay of ellipses where the overturned glass contacts the metal plates at a perpendicular angle to the far-left. All involve either an interplay of transparency or reflection, and all generate equivalent gravity. The result is a triangular series of paths the eye follows as the mind attempts to bring content and form together and make sense of what Claesz has created.
In the end, choices that bind and choices that cause discord are both abundant, but tension and interest remain. I believe the single-greatest example of mastery Claesz has achieved in this still life is how he has infused the canvas with this invisible energy through subjects that are unmoving, and even some that take on a character of being “dead”.
This painting is an exercise in the use of color purity, which is this work’s backbone. There is no truly influence-free color to be found, but the the value states of the black table and white cloth are the most terminal portions to be found on the canvas (ie, they lay on the “terminals” of the value scale, and in this way are the most “pure”). For any student of the arts that’s starting out, any time you see a watch, sundial, clock or other time-keeping device on a canvas, your sensitivity to symbols should be piqued. In this case, it’s impossible for me to say whether a sliver of a moment or an extended series of minutes is captured.
The naturalism of this piece relates the subjects with each other in space more than any other measure. That said, their proximities are further implied by transparency and gestalt. A blended combination of artificial light reflections and modelling further develops the subjects; contrasts in value do more to ground them on their surface than push-and-pull the subjects in space. The overall result is plastic depth “trapped” in a compressed field of view.
The abrupt transition from formless, dead space to a meandering interplay of curved and angled edges, highlights and polarized values placed in close proximity other create a truly dynamic, charged composition of static subjects. While the unbalanced presence of energy is undeniable, this work subtly binds through color purity, subject size relatability and the unique subject definition Claesz employs.
What does Claesz intend to be the primary focal point? The still life is in focus and all subjects are richly developed. Four local areas vie for attention. This could be my bias as a hopeless art student showing through, but the optical development of the dead space-penetrating glass is first. Below, stark transitions in value are found where the awkward position of the display piece overlaps the same glass, second. Third, the brightest chroma on the canvas is found in the lower-right corner, addressing the pieces’ title. Last is the interplay of ellipses where the overturned glass contacts the metal plates at a perpendicular angle to the far-left. All involve either an interplay of transparency or reflection, and all generate equivalent gravity. The result is a triangular series of paths the eye follows as the mind attempts to bring content and form together and make sense of what Claesz has created.
In the end, choices that bind and choices that cause discord are both abundant, but tension and interest remain. I believe the single-greatest example of mastery Claesz has achieved in this still life is how he has infused the canvas with this invisible energy through subjects that are unmoving, and even some that take on a character of being “dead”.
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