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About our painting
Our painting repeats a signed composition by the highly important Haarlem still life painter Willem Claesz. Heda (1594 – 1680) from 1644. It was sold 8/07/14 at Christie’s London for 6.105.908 €. Our panel is not as wide as that painting.
Except for his inscription in 1637 as the first pupil of Heda we do not know anything about Arnold van Beresteijn: no paintings, nor any biographical information.
In 1642 Heda had two more pupils, his second son Gerrit (circa 1622/26 – 1649) and Maerten Boelema de Stomme (1611 – 1644/45). Both passed away at a young age. Both had been strongly influenced by their Master.
Hendrick Heerschop (1626 /27 – 1690) also studied painting under Heda. He specialised in history scenes and in representations of scholars and doctors in their study. According to the website of the RKD The Hague there is only one still life known that might be attributed to Heerschop. It was sold twice at auction: at Christie’s in London, 8/07/88 as by Maerten Boelema de Stomme and at Bruun Rasmussen in Copenhagen, 27/05/97 as attributed to Gerrit Willemsz. Heda. The objects in that still life remind of ours.
I should also mention here Cornelis Mahu (Antwerp 1613 – 1689 Antwerp). Mahu was a skilled Flemish painter who practised different genres. He was influenced by some of the best Flemish and Dutch contemporary painters of seascapes, still lifes and genre scenes. It must have been very gratifying for this twenty year old painter to marry into a Flemish family of art dealers. That permitted him to have had also access to Dutch painting at a time when Holland was still fighting the Spanish oppressor for independence (until 1648).