Claus Meyer (1856–1919) - Intimacy in the Kitchen

Claus Meyer (1856–1919)

Intimacy in Dutch Cuisine (1892)

Technical sheet

Oil on canvas
Measurements: 54 × 65 cm; with a period frame in gilded wood and wavy molding: 76 × 65 cm, a historic piece that enhances its nineteenth-century domestic character.
Firm: Claus Meyer, 1892, in the lower left corner.
School: Late Dutch Realism with a strong influence of 19th-century Nordic genre painting.
Noble and stable craquelure, oxidized varnish, typical of the object's age.

2. Compositional and iconographic description

The scene shows a Dutch domestic interior where a young woman, illuminated by the side light coming through the stained glass window, discreetly peels some potatoes while a young man watches her with a close and conspiratorial gesture.

The artist arranges the composition through a warm diagonal that connects the window with the work table, and from there to the figures, creating an intimate and serene atmosphere.

The traditional clogs, ceramics, and foods on the countertop highlight elements that situate the scene within Dutch rural customs.

The meticulous brushstroke and amber light recall the interiors of Jozef Israëls and, due to their narrative intimacy, evoke Albert Neuhuys or Bernard Blommers, highly valued artists in the international market.

3. STYLE, CONTEXT AND EVALUATION

Meyer develops here an intimate realism that combines academic precision with domestic sensitivity, characteristic of fin de siècle Dutch painting.

The warmth of the light, the detail in the textiles, and the contained psychology of the characters place the work among the artist's best productions.

This type of scenes — highly valued in European collecting — connects with the sentimental and everyday language of the Hague School, giving them a notable decorative and museological interest.