A lost masterpiece by the overlooked female artist Clara Peeters has been discovered in a museum’s storage in Oslo. Art historian and curator Cynthia Osiecki stumbled upon an unattributed still-life painting in 2022, suspecting it might be a work by Peeters, a pioneering 17th-century Flemish Baroque artist.
Osiecki revealed that while searching for a Clara Peeters artwork to acquire, she came across the painting in the museum’s storeroom. The piece, titled “Still Life with Small Game and Grapes on a Gilded Tazza,” was initially thought to be by Ambrosius Brueghel but was later reclassified as “anonymous” and stored away.
After a meticulous process spanning several years, Osiecki successfully reattributed the painting to Peeters. Known for her skill in still-life painting, Peeters often included hidden self-portraits in her works, asserting her professional identity in a male-dominated art world.
The Oslo painting, adorned with nine dead birds, hazelnuts, and apricots, caught Osiecki’s attention with its unique features, including a reflection in the grapes and the prominent placement of the birds in the composition. Despite challenges like woodworm damage obscuring Peeters’ signature, careful examination and comparison with other works confirmed Peeters as the artist.
The National Museum of Norway is set to showcase Peeters’ painting in an exhibition titled “Woman Painter,” shedding light on historic female artists from northern Europe and Italy between 1550 and 1650. Osiecki emphasized the importance of recognizing and attributing works to female artists, underscoring the ongoing effort to unveil hidden contributions in the art world.
