Still Life with Lobster
Still Life with Lobster is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch–Flemish still-life painter Cornelis de Heem, produced in the second half of the seventeenth century.
Measuring 58.4 × 83 cm, it is in the collection of the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art.[1]: 154–155 In 2025, it was shown at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin in the exhibition From Odesa to Berlin
Description
The painting depicts a still life arranged on a tabletop and centred on a lobster. The composition includes further luxury objects and foodstuffs, as well as a casket and the edge of a wooden table.
Attribution and artistic context
Cornelis de Heem was the son and pupil of Jan Davidsz. de Heem. Art historians have noted strong stylistic parallels between Cornelis's early work and that of his father.[2]: 13 Jan Davidsz. de Heem's workshop in Antwerp played an important role in the dissemination of his style, which influenced numerous still-life painters in the Low Countries.[3]: 149 The painting belongs to the tradition of the Flemish and Dutch sumptuous still life, often referred to in modern scholarship as pronkstilleven.[4]: 159–164 Such works typically combine luxury goods, food, shells, and costly vessels in dense arrangements.[4]: 159–164 [2]: 43 Antwerp still lifes of this kind are often characterized by large-scale compositions and vivid colours set against darker backgrounds.[3]: 265 [4]: 159–164
Condition
The remaining traces of the signature are only faintly legible, and the varnish layer is described as yellowed and cloudy.[1]: 154
Exhibition history
In 2025, the painting was shown in the exhibition From Odesa to Berlin at the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. The exhibition was organized as a collaboration between the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art and the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin after works from Odesa had been evacuated from Ukraine. In the exhibition, the painting was displayed opposite Jan Davidsz. de Heem's Still Life with Fruit and Lobster, highlighting the relationship between the two works.[1]: 154–155
References
- 1 2 3 Sabine Lata. “Cornelis de Heem, Still Life with Lobster.” In Dagmar Hirschfelder and Sabine Lata (eds.), From Odesa to Berlin: European Painting from the 16th to the 19th Century. Munich: Hirmer, 2025. ISBN 978-3-7774-4514-4.
- 1 2 Gabriele Groschner. Zwischen den Dingen: Zwei Stillleben von Jan und Cornelis de Heem / Between the Objects: Two Still Lifes by Jan and Cornelis de Heem. Salzburg and Vienna: Residenz, 2019. ISBN 9783701734870.
- 1 2 Sam Segal. “Jan Davidsz. de Heem und sein Kreis.” In Jochen Sander (ed.), Die Magie der Dinge: Stilllebenmalerei 1500–1800. Frankfurt am Main, 2008.
- 1 2 3 Stefanie Wyssenbach. Frische Fische und prunkvolle Bankette: Handel, Sammeln, Konsumieren und Imaginieren im Antwerpener Stillleben, 1610–1660. Biel, 2020.