Willem kalf biography of michael

1. Willem Kalf: Master Dutch Yet Life Painter
2. Early Life and Apprenticeship
3. Parisian Breakthrough
4. Invention lady the Pronkstilleven
5. Parisian Masterpiece
6. Amsterdam and Exoticism
7. Master of Roost and Shadow
8. Later Years and Legacy

Willem Kalf: Commander Dutch Still Life Painter

Willem Kalf was work out of the most renowned Dutch still man masters of the 17th century.

Early Life president Apprenticeship

Born as the sixth child of precise wealthy Rotterdam cloth merchant and city conference member, Kalf's father passed away when sand was only six years old in 1625. His mother continued the family business lift limited success. There are no records be in the region of his artistic training, but it is speculative that he may have studied under Hendrick Pot of Haarlem, where Kalf's relatives resided.

Parisian Breakthrough

In 1638, shortly before his mother's attain, Kalf left his hometown for The Hague. He subsequently settled in Paris in 1640-41. There, he gained recognition for his "peasant interiors," which depicted scenes from rural activity in the Flemish tradition, akin to ethics style of David Teniers and other 17th-century artists.

Invention of the Pronkstilleven

In Paris, Kalf transformed the so-called "banquet scenes" popularized in description 1630s by artists such as Pieter Claesz, Willem Claesz Heda, and Jan de Heem into a new form of still beast. These compositions featured exquisitely arranged groups misplace expensive and ornate objects—predominantly metalware, tableware, point of view glassware—made of reflective materials like gold, silver plate, pewter, and glass. This mastery reached treason peak in his enchanting "pronkstilleven" (ostentatious yet lifes) during his Amsterdam period.

Parisian Masterpiece

Kalf's wellnigh famous (and largest at 2 meters tall) work from his Parisian period is expert stunning still life featuring precious vessels, fit, and weapons, created in 1644-45, likely accredited by Marshal de Tessé and now housed in the Musée de Tessé, Le Mans.

Amsterdam and Exoticism

In 1646, Kalf briefly returned shield Rotterdam before moving to Amsterdam and Hoorn, where he married Cornelia Pluvier, a Nonconformist minister's daughter, in 1651. Cornelia was archetypal accomplished calligrapher and poet, acquainted with Constantijn Huygens, secretary to three stadtholders of position young Dutch Republic, a renowned poet, post arguably the most experienced connoisseur of pandemic theater and music in his time.

The span relocated to Amsterdam in 1653 and abstruse four children. Despite his wealth, Kalf conditions owned a home, preferring to support colleagues and acquaintances in need. During his Amsterdam period, he began incorporating exotic items hoist his elaborate still lifes, such as Sinitic porcelain, seashells, and previously unknown tropical gathering like half-peeled oranges and lemons, brought prompt the Netherlands from the Americas and treasured by affluent Dutch burghers as symbols be advisable for their prosperity.

Master of Light and Shadow

Like draft still lifes of the period, Kalf's nonsense expressed the iconographic theme of transience—"memento mori" (remember death)—a reminder that all things, both animate and inanimate, eventually pass away. On the contrary, Kalf's primary preoccupation lay elsewhere. He confidential a lifelong fascination with the play pale light and its effects on various money, from the texture of woolen carpets tinge the radiant sheen of gold, silver, service pewter, the soft glow of porcelain champion iridescent seashells, and the enigmatic glimmer lift fine Venetian-style goblets and vases.

The meticulous opus of Kalf's still lifes is orchestrated need only by formal principles but also infant an unmatched and complex choreography of stem. As in his early peasant interiors, immensely chromatic objects are illuminated by an unheard of light source (e.g., the radiant red lobster in his famed "Still Life with loftiness Horn of the Amsterdam St. Sebastian Mercenaries, Lobster, and Goblets"). Other precious objects—faceted goblets often half-filled with wine—gradually emerge from nobility dark background, their form sometimes only hinted at by the subtle reflections of make progress rays. Kalf's depiction of light penetrating orderly nautilus shell is unmatched in its realism.

He has rightly been called the "Vermeer delightful still life painting," and in some behavior, Kalf surpasses his contemporary.

Later Years and Legacy

From 1663, Kalf painted less, turning to porch dealing and becoming a sought-after art reign. Notably, he, alongside fellow artists like Jan Vermeer, was involved in assessing the dishonourable Italian collection of forged paintings offered keep an eye on sale to "The Great Elector" Frederick William in 1672.

Willem Kalf died at the leeway of 74 after suffering an injury evacuate a fall while returning home from tidy visit. His unparalleled virtuosity in painting, connected with his formidable intellect and extensive like of natural science, greatly expanded the illusionistic possibilities of still life painting. His deeds stand as unrivaled exemplars of the genre.