Still Life with Lemons Oil Painting

Still Life with Lemons

This Still Life with Lemons is an original, one-of-a-kind 16 x 20 inch oil painting by Tatyana Zen, and an exact replica after Willem Kalf. Unique opportunity to purchase this artwork directly from the artist. Part of the Old Masters Collection, this painting the replica of Still Life by Willem Kalf, the greatest still life painter of the 17th century. While his paintings sell for millions of dollars at the auction houses, you too can add a piece of the Old Masters to your collection.

100% satisfaction guarantee with our 30 day Exchange Policy. This original painting is signed by the artist on the front and back. In addition, it is accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity. Secure shipping with full insurance. Painted on the 100% cotton canvas, professionally stretched and wrapped around 0.75 inch stretcher bars. You have an option to purchase it either unframed or framed (as shown in photo). If you choose the painting framed, it arrives ready to hang with wire on the back. Ready to ship in 3 business days.

If you admire the masterpieces of renown Dutch Golden Age painters like Pieter Claesz, Jan Davidsz de Heem, Willem Heda and Johannes Vermeer, you will appreciate this simple and elegant Dutch still life. It features an effective use of chiaroscuro and glazing technique that gives luminosity and depth of color. Great addition to any traditional or modern décor, eclectic addition to a gallery wall in contemporary interiors.

Also, check out the Still Life Collection, especially Still Life with Oranges.

Inspiration behind Painting

With its off-center pyramidal composition, this Still Life is a quintessential example of a compositional format that Kalf used in the late 1650s and early 1660s. The artist’s favorite Chinese porcelain fruit bowl, dating from the Wan-Li dynasty. Tipped bowl reveals the blue-on-white decorations that play off so well against the oranges, yellows, and reds of the fruit.

With their depiction of Oriental carpets, Venetian glass, Seville oranges, agate-handled knives, and above all Chinese porcelain, Kalf’s paintings evoke the far corners of the world. Placing these exotic objects against dark, contrasting backgrounds allowed Kalf to illuminate their forms with accents of light.

Willem Kalf, Master of Still Life

Willem Kalf, Dutch, (1619 – 1693), was one of the most celebrated, sought after, and successful still-life painters of the 17th century. In 1639, Willem Kalf left Rotterdam to join the thriving community of Dutch artists working in Paris. Kalf remained in France until 1646, preoccupied mainly with paintings of humble farmhouse interiors and focusing on still-life elements. During this time, he began also to develop independent still life subjects of the type known as pronk, the Dutch term for ostentation.

Concentrating on compositions juxtaposing fruit and other foods with costly vessels of glass, metal, and porcelain, Kalf became one of the most respected artists in Amsterdam, where he settled in 1653. In his characteristically tight close-ups, objects are crowded together and glimmer in the darkness of the setting. Reflections define the presence of elegant drinking glasses in the shadowy composition. Kalf uses his favorite device—a long curl of lemon peel trailing out of the tipped Ming bowl to define the foreground and hold the viewer’s eye.

Auction Sales:

• 2014  SOLD  482,500 GBP  A Still Life with Silver, Pewter and Gilt Objects  – Sotheby’s

• 2019  SOLD  $2,775,000 USD A chafing dish, two pilgrims’ canteens, a silver-gilt ewer– Christie’s

 

About Tatyana Zen

Russian-born and California-based, Tatyana Zen is a classically trained artist. Tatyana’s background in technology, design and philosophy blends into colorful artistic voice, intricately reflecting different points of view.  In essence, her artwork draws inspiration from the human form, pop-culture, Zen philosophy and the Old Masters.

Tatyana was fortunate to learn the secrets of Old Masters as a copyist at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Furthermore, she has developed her own painting method to achieve luminosity and depth of color.  Tatyana often incorporates organic elements in her paintings from coffee and tobacco to diamonds and gold. Read Bio.