Buried for not being Brueghel: overlooked masterpiece by still-life pioneer discovered in storage area
A curator at Norway's National Museum has identified a long-overlooked painting in storage as a masterpiece by 17th-century Flemish artist Clara Peeters. The work, previously misattributed to the Brueghel family, is now being brought out of obscurity for a major exhibition.
Why it matters
This discovery highlights the historical trend of erasing or misattributing the contributions of female artists in the art canon.
Revivified … Still Life with Small Game and Grapes on a Gilded Tazza by Clara Peeters, c1620, Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo. Photograph: Børre Høstland/The National Museum Revivified … Still Life with Small Game and Grapes on a Gilded Tazza by Clara Peeters, c1620, Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo. Photograph: Børre Høstland/The National Museum Art Buried for not being Brueghel: overlooked masterpiece by still-life pioneer discovered in storage area The curator of Norway’s national museum in Oslo stumbled upon is bringing the work by the Flemish baroque artist Clara Peeters out of obscurity in a major exhibition of female artists
Prefer the Guardian on Google Anonymous was often a woman: so said Virginia Woolf. And so thought Cynthia Osiecki one day in 2022, when she chanced on an unattributed still life in the storage area of the National Museum of Norway in Oslo.
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