Gallery 25

A study of contrasts, this painting displays multiple textures: crinkly paper, smooth wood, rough peels, and juicy orange fruit. The passage of time is suggested by the various stages in which the oranges lie; wrapped and unwrapped, peeled and unpeeled, a virtual timeline of the fruit’s consumption. They are also depicted like precious objects, which were wrapped and shipped to the East Coast from the citrus groves in California.

A study of contrasts, this painting displays multiple textures: crinkly paper, smooth wood, rough peels, and juicy orange fruit. The passage of time is suggested by the various stages in which the oranges lie; wrapped and unwrapped, peeled and unpeeled, a virtual timeline of the fruit’s consumption. They are also depicted like precious objects, which were wrapped and shipped to the East Coast from the citrus groves in California.

Brookes’s body of work mostly consists of the still lifes of game and fish for which he became well known and quite successful. The artist gave serious attention and rendered with painstaking skill the features of his captured animals. In this painting, two enormous salmon trout are presented at life size; the scale suggests the artist’s respect for his subject. Additionally, the painting also could have served as a permanent fishing trophy.

Brookes’s body of work mostly consists of the still lifes of game and fish for which he became well known and quite successful. The artist gave serious attention and rendered with painstaking skill the features of his captured animals. In this painting, two enormous salmon trout are presented at life size; the scale suggests the artist’s respect for his subject. Additionally, the painting also could have served as a permanent fishing trophy.

When 33-year-old Deakin moved from Chicago to San Francisco in 1871, his older friend, Samuel Marsden Brookes, was already an established artist there. Here Deakin painted Brookes with a romanticized seriousness, set in a slightly ramshackle studio cluttered with half-finished canvases. The subject continues working uninterrupted on one of his signature fish paintings.

When 33-year-old Deakin moved from Chicago to San Francisco in 1871, his older friend, Samuel Marsden Brookes, was already an established artist there. Here Deakin painted Brookes with a romanticized seriousness, set in a slightly ramshackle studio cluttered with half-finished canvases. The subject continues working uninterrupted on one of his signature fish paintings.

A celebration of spring’s rich abundance of colors and tastes, this tour de force still life demonstrates Hill’s technical skills. It is a trophy painting, in both the effort of the painter and the affluence of the patron’s table. While the virtuosity of Hill’s painting evokes the 17th-century Dutch still-life tradition, this feast for the senses glorifies hearty and diverse American foodstuffs: asparagus, cabbage, radishes, carrots, lettuces, and onions.

A celebration of spring’s rich abundance of colors and tastes, this tour de force still life demonstrates Hill’s technical skills. It is a trophy painting, in both the effort of the painter and the affluence of the patron’s table. While the virtuosity of Hill’s painting evokes the 17th-century Dutch still-life tradition, this feast for the senses glorifies hearty and diverse American foodstuffs: asparagus, cabbage, radishes, carrots, lettuces, and onions.

This painting, typical of the growing taste for fruit still lifes during the 1820s–1830s, offers a palette of contrasting colors displayed in peaches, pears, and multiple varieties of grapes. Some of the fruits sit in a bowl; others seem to spill across the surface of a table. The microscopic attention to detail shows Peale’s background as a painter of miniatures and a student of the natural sciences.

This painting, typical of the growing taste for fruit still lifes during the 1820s–1830s, offers a palette of contrasting colors displayed in peaches, pears, and multiple varieties of grapes. Some of the fruits sit in a bowl; others seem to spill across the surface of a table. The microscopic attention to detail shows Peale’s background as a painter of miniatures and a student of the natural sciences.