Updated 02 June 2026
On Display Permanent collection
On Display
Still Life with a Basket of Fruit
| Date | c. 1654 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on panel |
| Size（cm） | 44.5 x 72.5 |
| Inscriptions | Signed lower left on edge of table: C. DHEEM. f. |
| Credit Line | Purchased |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1990-0002 |
Cornelis de Heem was the son of the famous 17th-century Netherlandish still life painter, Jan Davidsz. de Heem and he probably studied under his father. This painting has a horizontal composition and dates from Cornelis' early period. A wood table draped with a green cloth is set parallel to a dark green wall in the background. The left edge of the table forms a diagonal line running from left to right. This diagonal line sets up the basis for the composition, with the array of fruit -- grapes, peaches, apricots, cherries and plums -- spilling from a basket tipped to the upper left in the same diagonal direction. Two walnuts are placed to the left, forming a diagonal line with a peeled lemon, a bunch of grapes and grape leaves. The basket sits tipped up on a melon, which has been cut open to reveal its flesh. The depiction of a cut melon and peeled lemon are frequently seen in Dutch still-life paintings from this period. While such works often had vanitas meanings during that period, this work seems to not have any specifically symbolic meaning. The overall palette is green-based, with accents found in the yellow lemon and the red cherries. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 34)
Provenance
Coll. Georg Eberle (?); Xaver Scheidwimmer, München; Purchased by the NMWA, 1990
Exhibition History
- 1996
- The Crossing Visions: European and Modern Japanese Art from the Collections of The National Museum of Western Art & The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July 1996 - 8 September 1996, cat. no. 63
- 2025
- [Special Exhibition] Emulation and Admiration: Two Stories of Collecting European Art European Master Paintings from The San Diego Museum of Art and The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, the Special Exhibition Wing, 11 March 2025 - 8 June 2025, cat. no. 56
Bibliography
- 1991
- Segal, Sam. Jan Davidsz. de Heem en zijn Kring (exh. cat.), Centraal Museum, Utrecht and Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, 1991, pp. 198-199, fig. 35a.
- 1994
- Annual bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. Nos. 25-26 (April 1990-March 1992), 1994, Nakamura. Toshiharu. New Acqisitions. Cornelis de Heem, 《Still Life with a Basket of Fruits》. pp. 15-17, List of New Acquisitions. p. 45, col. repr.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 34, col. repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 34, col. repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 48, col. repr.
- 2018
- Kofuku, Akira. Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Paintings, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. [Tokyo], The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; The Western Art Foundation, 2018, pp. 94-95, no. 25, col. repr.
- 2025
- Emulation and Admiration: Two Stories of Collecting European Art: European Master Paintings from The San Diego Museum of Art and The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; Kyoto City Museum of Art (Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum); Nikkei Inc., eds. Tokyo, Nikkei Inc., 2025, pp. 110, 112, 223, cat. no. 56, col. repr.