Born in Berchem, near Antwerp, around 1597, Claesz had settled in Haarlem by the early 1620s, where he spent the remainder of his career. By 1634, he had joined the city’s Guild of Saint Luke and established himself as one of Haarlem’s foremost still life specialists. In works such as Still Life with Turkey Pie (1627) and Still Life with Drinking Vessels (1649), Claesz depicted familiar objects — including pewter plates, Venetian glassware, Chinese porcelain, oysters, bread, citrus fruit and finely crafted silver — with remarkable precision and sensitivity.
Around 1630, the artist adopted a muted palette which, combined with a refined use of light, lent his compositions an understated elegance, setting them apart from the more elaborate still lifes of his contemporaries. After 1640, he introduced richer colours and more complex arrangements, likely reflecting the influence of other still life artists, such as Jan Davidsz de Heem.
Beneath their meticulous realism, Claesz’s paintings often carry deeper symbolic meaning. Extinguished candles, pocket watches and half-peeled lemons evoke the fleeting nature of earthly pleasures and the inevitability of mortality, aligning his work with the Dutch vanitas tradition. Through carefully balanced compositions and an extraordinary illusionism, he elevated commonplace objects into works of profound visual and philosophical depth.
Claesz’s innovative approach shaped the development of still life painting in Haarlem and beyond, influencing artists including his son, Nicolaes Berchem, and contemporaries such as Willem Claesz Heda. He died in Haarlem around 1660. Today, his works remain admired for their quiet sophistication and technical brilliance, and are held in major collections including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
PIETER CLAESZ (BERCHEM 1597⁄1598-1660/1661 HAARLEM)
Strawberries, currants and bread on a pewter platter, a roemer filled with wine, strawberries, cherries and currants in a porcelain bowl, a cheese basket, bread, nuts, a tazza, a silver knife and a knife-case, on a partly draped table
PIETER CLAESZ (BERCHEM 1597/8-1660/1 HAARLEM)
An overturned silver tazza, a partly peeled lemon and an olive on a silver plate, walnuts, hazelnuts and a knife on a draped table
PIETER CLAESZ. (BERCHEM 1597 / 8-1660 HAARLEM)
A peeled lemon on a pewter plate, a pewter wine jar, a roemer, gooseberries and redcurrants in a dish, a knife, on a partially draped table
PIETER CLAESZ. (BERCHEM 1597 / 8-1660 HAARLEM)
A large roemer, overturned tazza, salt cellar, partially sliced lemon, oysters, pepper, knife and bread on a partially draped table
Pieter Claesz. (Burgsteinfurt, Westphalia c. 1597-1660 Haarlem)
Two peaches, a watch, a roemer filled with wine, a salt cellar, books and chestnuts on a draped table
Pieter Claesz (Burgsteinfurt, Westaphalia c. 1597-1660 Haarlem)
A herring on a pewter platter, with a roll of bread, a knife, an upturned glass, a stoneware and pewter jug, a red earthenware brazier, a white clay pipe, a bundle of matches and a pewter tobacco tin, on a partially draped table
Pieter Claesz. (Burgsteinfurt, Westphalia c. 1597-1660 Haarlem)
Quinces, peaches, a sliced melon on a silver plate, a bread roll, a leg of ham on a pewter plate, a knife, a 'Roemer' of white wine, a stoneware jug and a basket of fruit, all on a table
Pieter Claesz (Burgsteinfurt c. 1597-1660 Haarlem)
Still life with ham, lemon, a roll, a glass of wine, and others on a table
PIETER CLAESZ (BERCHEM 1597⁄1598-1660/1661 HAARLEM)
Ontbijt of silver and glassware on a draped table, with vines, fruits and baked goods
Circle of Pieter Claesz. (Berchem 1597/1598-1660/1661 Haarlem)
Poultry a pewter platter, a sliced bread, a peeled lemon and two glasses of white wine all on pewter platters, a knife, a tankard and a salt vessel, all on a draped table
Pieter Claesz. (Burgsteinfurt, Westphalia c. 1597-1660 Haarlem)
Crabs and bread on pewter platters, peaches and other fruit in a porcelain bowl, a salt vessel, a jug, a roemer and a knife, on a draped table
PIETER CLAESZ (BERCHEM 1596/1597-1661 HAARLEM)
Nature morte au roemer, au hareng fumé, aux noix, aux groseilles blanches et aux fraises des bois
CIRCLE OF PIETER CLAESZ. (BERCHEM C. 1597/98-1660/61 HAARLEM)
Peaches on a silver platter, a fruit pie, a bread roll, a prunted roemer and a silver coffee pot on a partially draped table
CIRCLE OF PIETER CLAESZ. (BERCHEM C. 1597-1660 HAARLEM)
A skull, bone, book, lute and watch on a ledge
Circle of Pieter Claesz. (Westphalia c. 1597/8-1661 Haarlem)
A ham on a pewter platter, a pealed lemon and a roll on pewter platters, a tankard, a roemer and a goblet, on a partly-draped table
Circle of Pieter Claesz. (Burgsteinfurt, Westphalia c. 1597-1660 Haarlem)
A pewter jug with an upturned roemer, a façon-de-Venise flute of wine and a pie on a pewter platter on a partly-draped table