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Still Life with Basket of Fruit (work of art)

Artwork Info

Created
1622
Nationality
Dutch
Birth/Death
1593/4-1657
Dimensions
19 1/2 x 32 in.
(49.5 x 81.3 cm)

Credit

Purchased with funds from the State of North Carolina

Object Number
52.9.197
Culture
Dutch European
Classification
Paintings
Department
European to 1910

Key Ideas about this Work of Art

  • This is a still life painting. Still life paintings depict natural (usually nonliving) or human-made objects. This type of painting was successful in the Netherlands in the 17th century. 
  • Artists often created still lifes to show off their painting abilities. Van der Ast painted different objects and small insects to demonstrate his skill and attention to detail. 
  • Still lifes can also tell us things about religion, politics, or society. In the 17th century, the Dutch developed successful colonization and trade efforts. This painting shows natural and human-made objects from locations around the world.
  • Van der Ast used natural elements as symbols in his paintings. He depicted fruits and flowers in different stages of ripeness to represent how short life is.
  • Chinese porcelain known as Kraak ware was often depicted in Dutch paintings from this time period. Kraak ware, also called Kraak porcelain, was made in China and exported to Europe. It became a luxurious and popular product in the Netherlands.

Learn More

Seashells, carefully observed insects and fruits, and rare flowers testify to the 17th-century Dutch fascination with the natural world. An extreme manifestation of this curiosity was tulipomania, when collectors spent huge sums to acquire individual tulip bulbs such as the one that produced the hybrid striped variety in the center foreground of this still life.

The shells are depicted with such exactitude that they can be identified as species from seas off the coasts of the East and West Indies and Africa. These and the Chinese porcelain are evidence of the extensive trading and rapidly expanding sphere of Dutch merchants.

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Images

  • An oil painting of a basket of fruit on a brown wooden table, with insects crawling in and around the basket. A bowl of lemons and crustaceans is on the left side of the table, and scattered pieces of produce, bugs, and flowers are depicted in the foreground and on the right side of the table.

    Still Life with Basket of Fruit