National Gallery of Art: Willem van Aelst

Still Life with Fruit, Nuts, Butterflies, and Other Insects on a Ledge, c. 1677, oil on canvas

Went to a small (28 paintings) special Exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art. Elegance and Refinement: The Still-Life Paintings of Willem van Aelst is co-currated with the Houston Museum of Fine Art where it showed ealier this year and now enjoys a run here in Washington, D. C. from June 24 to October 14, 2012.

Willem van Aelst is another master of the Dutch city of Delft (more over Vermeer), and his specialty was the still life. They are gorgeous, rich, portraits of flora, fauna and the accoutrements of wealth.

Dead Birds and Hunting Gear, 1664, oil on canvas

One particular twist on this genre that van Aelst excelled at was the post hunting collection of fowl and gamed displayed painting. I just made that category up, but you get the idea. I found these mid-sized gems fascinating.

Fruit Still Life with a Mouse, 1674, oil on canvas

You will discover other works like this sweet little still life with a mouse barely the size of White Cabbage Butterfly!

Still Life with Ram's Head, 1652, oil on canvas

The most interesting or perhaps distinctive work in the show is the sublimely named "Still Like with Ram's Head". What the title leaves out is that the dead ram's head is accompanied by both its pelt and its entrails. All executed in divine detail!