1594 -1680 · Haarlem and splendor of the monochrome banquet

Matte tin, fragile glass and crumpled tablecloths make Willem Claesz Heda the absolute master of reflections and interrupted meals.

Willem Claesz Heda was born in Haarlem in 1594 and died there in 1680. Son of the municipal architect Claes Pietersz Bagijn, he belonged throughout his life to the civic and professional fabric of the city. A member of the Saint-Georges Guard, he also played an important role in the Saint-Luc guild, for which he became responsible and dean several times. His beginnings included religious subjects and some portraits, but he specialized in the late 1620s in still life. With Pieter Claesz, Heda transformed ontbijt, or breakfast, and banketje, or banquet, into one of the most refined languages of the Dutch Golden Age. With Pieter Claesz, Heda transformed ontbijt, or breakfast, and banketje, or banquet, into one of the most refined languages of the Dutch Golden Age. With Pieter Claesz, Heda transformed ontbijt, or breakfast, and banketje, or banquet, into one of the most refined languages of the Dutch Golden Age. With Pieter Claesz, Heda transformed ontbijt, or breakfast, and banketje, or banquet, into one of the most refined languages of the Dutch Golden Age. With Pieter Claesz, Heda transformed ontbijt, or breakfast, and banketje, or banquet, into one upside down cup, peeled lemon, knife, broken bread, oyster, ham, towel and white tablecloth. However, each painting reinvents their balance. The deliberately restricted palette - gray, brown, green, pale yellow and silver - circulates light from one material to another. Heda makes the glass transparent, the metal dented, the crumb, the skin of the fruit and the textile crumpled with a fine touch but never dry. End of snack shows the traces of a disappeared presence: advanced plate, empty shell and displaced dishes suggest that the meal has just been interrupted. Still life with ham, game and dishes moved suggests that the meal has just been interrupted. Still life with ham, game and dishes moved suggests that the meal has just been interrupted. Still life with ham, game and dishes moved suggests that the meal has just been interrupted. Still life with ham, game and dishes moved suggests that the meal has just been interrupted. Still life with ham, game and dishes moved, widens this poetics towards abundance, without erasing the fragility of the pleasures. Precious objects can evoke prosperity, while broken glass, bitter lemon and leftovers discreetly recall the brevity of time. Influential workshop manager, Heda notably trains her son Gerrit and imposes the silent eloquence of the monochrome banquet well beyond Haarlem. The "Willem Claesz Heda" selection notably compares End of snack and Still life with ham, game and dishes. His reading favors space.

Heda makes the silence heard after the meal: each reflection celebrates the material while each remainder reminds us that the pleasure has just passed.