Clara Peeters Painting Rediscovered After Storage Reattribution
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- Clara Peeters painted Still Life with Small Game and Grapes on a Gilded Tazza around 1620, now reattributed to her after decades in storage at the National Museum of Norway.
- Cynthia Osiecki identified the Oslo painting as a likely Peeters work by matching its panel supplier and compositional details like the tazza and arrangement of grapes, birds, and hazelnuts.
- The National Museum of Norway officially reattributed the painting to Peeters in 2024, elevating it from 'anonymous' status after woodworm damage was found where her signature typically appeared.
- Osiecki observed faint human-figure outlines on grapes in the painting, consistent with Peeters’ known use of miniature self-portraits in reflective surfaces, possibly obscured by past conservation.
- The Woman Painter exhibition, opening 8 October at the National Museum of Norway and curated by Osiecki, will feature the rediscovered Peeters as a centerpiece among works by 19 female artists from 1550–1650.
Why it matters: This reattribution shifts art historical recognition toward women once excluded from the canon, restoring Clara Peeters’ authorship of a work held in obscurity for over a century. Museums gain both a major artwork and a precedent for re-examining 'anonymous' pieces as potential discoveries, accelerating efforts to correct gender imbalances in collections.
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