Pulchri Studio - Small Format - winter 2026

Tulip in a Vase with Butterfly

From 20 November, Pulchri Studio presents a new collection of small artworks (maximum 30 x 30 cm). Feel free to pop in if you’re in the area. What makes this Small Format exhibition unique: once purchased, the artwork can come straight off the wall and go home with you. Perfect as a unique gift, or as a spontaneous treat for yourself.

I’m taking part with the floral still life Tulip in a Vase with Butterfly. For this work, I was inspired by a painting by Balthasar van der Ast, which he created around 1625. I was drawn to its effective simplicity: a small vase with a single graceful tulip. A butterfly and a fly feature in the scene: the butterfly as a metaphor for transformation and rebirth, sometimes also for the soul leaving the body; the fly as a sign of decay and the inevitability of death. Together, they depict the fragile boundary between life and death, between the spiritual and the earthly—a recurring theme in 17th-century Dutch still lifes.

This work is part of the series Preserved, which includes recreations of floral still lifes from various periods in art history. The materials I use in this series are found artificial flowers and props from thrift stores. The work is also available from the Pulchri Studio webshop in a limited edition of 7.

Period: 20 August to 18 November 2026

Address: Pulchri Studio, Lange Voorhout 15, 2514 EA The Hague