Still Life with Shells and Coral

Still Life with Shells and Coral presents a still life arrangement on a dark, nearly black surface, dominated by a large spiraling conch shell on the left and a cluster of reddish-brown coral nearby. A few smaller shells and a pale, fan-like fragment provide contrast as light highlights their textures, set against a deep background that recedes into shadow. The painting uses warm earth tones—ochre, brown, ivory—with subtle touches of green-blue, and its finely detailed, texture-focused brushwork reflects the Dutch Golden Age still-life tradition and Willem Kalf’s emphasis on material surfaces and light.