Artwork
Still Life with Fruit on a Table
Still Life with Fruit on a Table is an oil painting by the Flemish Baroque painting artist Adriaen van Utrecht. It dates from 1647 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
History & Provenance
Still Life with Fruit on a Table by Adriaen van Utrecht, dated 1647, is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark).
The oil painting Still Life with Fruit on a Table was created by Adriaen van Utrecht in 1647. Executed on canvas, the work measures 114.6 cm in height and 171.5 cm in width. It is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
The specific commissioning details and the complete chain of ownership prior to its arrival at the museum are not documented in the available sources. The creation history is defined solely by the artist, the medium, and the confirmed date of inception.
Still Life with Fruit on a Table by Adriaen van Utrecht, dated 1647, is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark). The work is recorded as part of that museum's holdings, painted in oil on canvas, and measures 114.6 cm in height by 171.5 cm in width. No specific accession number or prior exhibition history is documented in the available sources.
Context
Adriaen van Utrecht painted Still Life with Fruit on a Table in 1647, exemplifying the Dutch Golden Age's fascination with sumptuous still life arrangements. The work features meticulously rendered fruit on a table, showcasing the artist's skill in depicting texture and light within the still life genre. It is housed in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, reflecting its significance within the museum's holdings of Northern European art.
Scholarship emphasizes Utrecht's role in advancing still life painting beyond mere representation to include compositional complexity and symbolic depth, positioning his work within broader discussions of 17th-century Dutch artistic innovation and the evolution of genre painting.
Overview
Adriaen van Utrecht’s Still Life with Fruit on a Table (1647) is an oil painting that exemplifies the Flemish Baroque fascination with sumptuous domestic scenes. Executed during the artist’s mature period, the work presents a carefully arranged assortment of fruit rendered with meticulous detail, reflecting the period’s interest in material wealth and visual abundance.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a tabletop laden with apples, pears, grapes, and lemons, interspersed with leaves and twigs that spill beyond the edge of the surface. The selection of ripe, varied fruit conveys themes of prosperity and the fleeting nature of earthly pleasures, a common moral undertone in 17th‑century still‑life conventions.
Technique & Style
Van Utrecht employs a realistic, highly finished technique characteristic of Flemish still‑life painters. Fine brushwork captures the texture of skin and peel, while a restrained palette of muted browns, greens, and soft highlights creates depth and a tactile sense of weight. The careful modeling of light across the fruit enhances the illusion of three‑dimensionality.
Artist & collection
Artist
Adriaen van Utrecht (Antwerp, 12 January 1599 – 1652) was a Flemish painter known mainly for his sumptuous banquet still lifes, game and fruit still lifes, fruit garlands, market and kitchen scenes and depictions of live poultry in…
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