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Dutch after 1650
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Willem van Aelst (Dutch, 1627-after 1682)
Vanitas Flower Still Life, about 1656
Oil on canvas, 22 x 18 1/4 in. (55.9 x 46.4 cm.)
Purchased with funds from the State of North Carolina, 52.9.57
The asymmetrical composition and cool harmonies of this picture are characteristic of the sophisticated and finely detailed bouquets produced by Dutch painters after the mid-seventeenth century. Because it includes flowers that bloom at different times during the year, the bouquet becomes an illusion on multiple levels. Van Aelst makes each flower seem to come alive, but this realism need not distract the viewer from the work's underlying message, one of vanitas. Vanitas, the emptiness and transience of earthly things, is emphasized through the appearance of fading flowers, partially eaten leaves, insects, and the mouse eating a seed. Our brief time on earth, symbolized by the watch, passes as quickly as the beauty of each bloom.
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