Willem Kalf (1619-1693)

• Kalf was a Dutch Golden Age painter who specialized in still lifes.
• Willem Kalf was born in Rotterdam, in 1619.
• Kalf was born into a prosperous patrician family in Rotterdam, where his father, a cloth merchant, held municipal posts as well.
• In the late 1630s, Willem Kalf traveled to Paris and spent time in the circle of the Flemish artists in Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
• In Paris he painted mainly small-scale rustic interiors and still lifes.
• In his Paintings there is almost always a Chinese porcelain bowl, often tilted so that the fruits tumble out of it.
• Later in his life, Kalf became an art dealer and appraiser.
• The displayed painting is a crop from: Willem Kalf, Still Life with a Silver Jug and a Porcelain Bowl, 1655 - 1660.
• Next

Willem Kalf, Still Life with Fruit, Glassware, and a Wanli Bowl, 1659

Original, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Visited in 2017-2021.

Willem Kalf, Still Life with Fruit, Glassware, and a Wanli Bowl, 1659

Willem Kalf, Still Life, c. 1665

Original, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Visited in 2017-18.

Willem Kalf, Still Life, c. 1665

Willem Kalf, Still Life with a Peeled Lemon, 1664

Original, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Visited in 2018-2023.

Willem Kalf, Still Life with a Peeled Lemon, 1664

Willem Kalf, Still Life with Drinking-Horn, about 1653

Original, The National Gallery - London. Visited in 2018-19.

Willem Kalf, Still Life with Drinking-Horn, about 1653

Willem Kalf, Still Life with a Porcelain Vase, Silver-gilt Ewer, and Glasses, c. 1643-44

Original, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Visited in 2018.

Willem Kalf, Still Life with a Porcelain Vase, Silver-gilt Ewer, and Glasses, c. 1643-44

Willem Kalf, Still Life with a Silver Jug and a Porcelain Bowl, 1655 - 1660

Original, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Visited in 2018.

Willem Kalf, Still Life with a Silver Jug and a Porcelain Bowl, 1655 - 1660

Willem Kalf, Kitchen, c. 1642

Original, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Visited in 2018.

Willem Kalf, Kitchen, c. 1642

Willem Kalf, Still Life with Porcelain Jug, 1653

Original, The Pinakotheken, Munich. Visited in 2019.

Willem Kalf, Still life with Chinese porcelain tin, 1662

Original, Staatliche Museum in Berlin, Gemäldegalerie. Visited in 2019.

Willem Kalf, Still life with Chinese porcelain tin, 1662

Willem Kalf, Wineglass and a Bowl of Fruit, 1663

Original, The Cleveland Museum of Art. Visited in 2020.

Willem Kalf, Wineglass and a Bowl of Fruit, 1663

Willem Kalf, Still Life with Columbine Goblet, ca. 1660

Original, DIA, Detroit Institute of Arts. Visited in 2020.

Willem Kalf, Still Life with Columbine Goblet, ca. 1660

Willem Kalf, A Kitchen Corner, ca. between 1642 and 1644

Original, DIA, Detroit Institute of Arts. Visited in 2020.

Willem Kalf, A Kitchen Corner, ca. between 1642 and 1644

Willem Kalf, Interior of a rustic kitchen, 1642 - 1643

Original, Louvre Museum, Paris. Visited in 2021.

Willem Kalf, Interior of a rustic kitchen, 1642 - 1643

Willem Kalf, Kitchen utensils, about 1642-1646

Original, Louvre Museum, Paris. Visited in 2021.

Willem Kalf, Still Life with a snail shell goblet, c. 1665-70

Original. Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig, Germany. Visited in 2023.

Willem Kalf, Peasant interior with woman at the well, 1642-45

Original. Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig, Germany. Visited in 2023.

Willem Kalf, Peasant interior with woman at the well, 1642-45

Willem Kalf, Still Life with Oranges, ca. 1670

Original, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main. Visited in 2022.

Willem Kalf, Still Life with Oranges, ca. 1670