Still Life

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Artist: Willem Kalf (Dutch, 1619–1693)
Medium: oil on canvas
Size: overall: 64.4 x 53.8 cm (25 3/8 x 21 3/16 in.); framed: 83.8 x 69.9 cm (33 x 27 1/2 in.)
Museum: National Gallery of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

A blue and white porcelain bowl, fruit, wine glasses, and a woven rug are gathered on a tabletop in front of a black background in this vertical still life painting. Light strongly illuminates the objects, creating a stark contrast to the dark background. At the center of the composition, the porcelain bowl is tipped so its wide brim rests on the rug bunched on the tabletop to our left. The rug is painted with a pattern in earthy beige and chocolate brown, denim blue, bronze, and cream white.

A piece of roughly textured orange fruit resembling a tiny pumpkin has a stem with a small white blossom growing from its top. The fruit sits in the bowl alongside a vivid yellow lemon that has been partially peeled. The top has been cut from the lemon to form a long strip that curls onto the table, and the pulp glistens in the light. Two peaches sitting in front of the bowl are painted with tones of silvery ivory and burnt orange.

The handle of a utensil juts out from between the peaches and lemon peel. Two glasses and a slender carafe are arranged in a row behind the fruit and bowl. The glass to the left has a round bowl over a thick, columnar stem, and the tall, gently flaring glass carafe behind the orange fruit are both half-filled with pale gold liquid. A drinking glass with a wide, shallow, scalloped-edged cup is mostly hidden behind the porcelain bowl, to our right.