Price on request
One still life is more serene than another. The Helmantel Still Life with Butter from 1995 is such a work. It is as if the objects have stood untouched in this arrangement for centuries. After a hard day's work, with a good glass of wine, looking at such a rustic work, you naturally find peace. The serene effect of the works is due not only to the composition and the objects, but precisely to the low light. The shadows are long; evening has clearly begun.
The oval Butte in the background supports the work. A Butte is a wooden box used in the 19th century to store small items (of clothing). Most are round, but oval ones like this one also existed. It is typical of Helmantel not to choose a richly decorated, somewhat ostentatious Butte from Hindelopen, but the simplest imaginable, even without any motifs. The character emerges naturally from the peeling paint and the damage caused by use over time.
