United States

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.

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.

A self-taught master of the still life, Deakin combined in this painting his fascination for the light effects on the translucent red grapes and the Gothic-style carved stone arch that frames the fruit. In addition to its obvious visual appeal, the Flame Tokay table grape, a popular varietal in the late 19th century, was found most commonly in the warmer regions of California; the painting may have been meant as a tribute to the artist’s adopted state.

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.

In The Meerschaum Pipe, a smoking pipe is mysteriously paired with what appears to be a small classified notice from a newspaper stuck to the wall. While any narrative relation between the two objects remains elusive, we as viewers are invited to create a story connecting them. As is often the case within Harnett’s oeuvre, the artist’s signature appears “carved” into the planar wood surface, which is rendered as meticulously as the picture’s subjects.

In The Meerschaum Pipe, a smoking pipe is mysteriously paired with what appears to be a small classified notice from a newspaper stuck to the wall. While any narrative relation between the two objects remains elusive, we as viewers are invited to create a story connecting them. As is often the case within Harnett’s oeuvre, the artist’s signature appears “carved” into the planar wood surface, which is rendered as meticulously as the picture’s subjects.