Elegance and Refinement: The Still-Life Paintings of Willem van Aelst March 11–May 28, 2012
Willem van Aelst, Still Life with Fruit, Walnuts, and Insects on a Marble Ledge, 1670, oil on canvas, private collection.
Willem van Aelst, Hunt Still Life with a Velvet Bag on a Marble Ledge, c. 1665, oil on canvas, Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston.
Willem van Aelst, Fruit Still Life with a Mouse, 1674, oil on canvas, private collection, Boston.
Willem van Aelst, Flower Still Life with a Watch, 1663, oil on canvas, Mauritshuis, The Hague.
Willem van Aelst, Still Life with a Mouse and a Candle, 1647, oil on copper, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection.
Willem van Aelst, Peaches, Grapes, and a Plum on a Ledge, 1646, oil on copper, private collection.
Willem van Aelst, Still Life with Fish, Bread, and a Nautilus Cup, 1678, oil on canvas, private collection, Germany.
Elegance and Refinement: The Still-Life Paintings of Willem van Aelst
Hardcover ($60) Published by the MFAH and Skira Rizzoli
713.639.7360 | www.mfah.org/shop
Seventeenth-century Dutch artist Willem van Aelst painted still lifes that are remarkable for their fine finish, carefully balanced composition, elegant subject matter, and rich, jewel-toned palette. Elegance and Refinement is an unprecedented exhibition of more than 25 paintings that celebrate the exquisite work of a neglected master who had a significant impact on late-17th-century still-life painting.
Van Aelst (1627–1683) was one of the most technically brilliant Dutch still-life painters of his time. Born and trained in Delft, he spent most of his life in Amsterdam, but his paintings were forever transformed by the 10 years he spent abroad as a youth—first in France and then in Florence, at the Medici court. There, he accepted commissions from the Medicis and other high-ranking aristocrats. As his reputation grew, Van Aelst adapted his skills to subjects that appealed to his elite clientele. His work typically depicts arrangements of fresh fruit and flowers; precious objects found in the home, such as sumptuous drapery and Venetian glassware; displays of dead game; and evocations of the forest floor.
Accompanying the exhibition is the first-ever monograph on Van Aelst’s paintings, published by Skira Rizzoli in conjunction with the MFAH.
This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the National Gallery of Art, Washington; and the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Generous funding is provided by:
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
Mr. Jeff Fort
The Hildebrand Fund
Ann G. Trammell
The catalogue for this exhibition receives generous funding from the Netherland-America Foundation.