Oil Painting on Oval Canvas: Still Life of Fall Fruit & Bowl c1890

Fine Art : Paintings : Still Life : Oil Painting : Canvas

 

American Still Life oil painting with fall harvest theme of ‘fruit in a bowl’ from the first aesthetic ‘arts & crafts’ movement of the late 1800s. And the more I study this oil painting, the more unanswered question seem to arise. While upon first reflection, this painting simply looked like a late Victorian Period still life with a distinct harvest theme of peaches, grapes, flowers & foliage of the fall season. Then upon closer study, one notices the missing tips of some the leaves along the left edge and so this may also be a trimmed down section from a larger painting. In fact, the absence of any recognizable table top may in fact be simply a product of cropping since there is a just a hint of shading still left that seems to define space. And so the oval shape of the painting today may simply be the result of a fashionable trend for cutting down rectangular old paintings some 90 years ago.

At the same time, the strengths of this still life rest in the perfectly accentuated capture of light across the fruit and bowl. It is so well done that it also captures the textural differences between the hard, tight skins on the grapes and the soft fuzzy surfaces of the peaches. How knows, maybe this was painted by a real master and someone later trimmed off the signed section in their over-zealousness to stay up with newer trends. Even the green leaves project a kind of peak fitness and vigor that radiates abundance. Off to one side are small gray-blue New England asters or some similar flower. Right next to the asters is a small 1.5 inch area where the artist apparently changed the composition and over painted something. How much larger the painting may have been is not known, if indeed it has truly been cut down.

The painting is on canvas and is in good shape with just a very minor amount of loss of paint from being loose and off any stretcher. Also, it has been covered with a varnish quite a long time ago. This protective layer was added after it was framed in an oval frame since there is an unvarnished band measuring from 3/8 to 5/8 inches wide all the way around the edge of the painted surface. As for other details, the style of the bowl and its reflective properties suggest to me that it is metal since it reflects some of the images. Also, the base of the bowl is quite distinctive and looks very much like a crimped metal foot. A tin or copper bowl could help place the painting with the first aesthetic ‘arts & crafts’ movement of the late 1800s. Yet, on the other hand the bowl could very well be made of clear translucent glass instead of reflective metal. But since the peaches do not project through the bowl and the light green grapes also do not project in the same way, reflective metal seems a better fit than glass for the left side of the bowl. Glass, however seems a better fit for the right side of the bowl. Or maybe the artist intentionally wanted to project a dubious situation and leave it up to each viewer to decide and interpret the scene.

Finally, I do not know who may have painted this still life and if any viewer can help, please do drop me a note - - thanks. The canvas shows some age and the varnish has yellowed. So if you like old still life oil paintings, then do consider this one while this is still available. This painting also comes with my Docs Antiques full satisfaction guarantee or you may return it within seven days for a refund. Thanks for looking and do come back again and browse my other listings shown on the left hand column when you have more time.

SIZE: The varnished image measures 13 1/4 inches by 10 3/8 inches while the canvas measures 14 by 11 inches. The canvas is loose and not on a stretcher. The painting has many nice details and will capture attention in most any setting since it projects its own ambience despite how light or dark your room may be.

CONDITION: This painting is in very good condition with no holes, scratches or tears. There is some very minor paint loss where the canvass was bent and paint wore or popped off. These appear as fine off white lines and cracks with the largest being 1 1/4 inches long (the largest one is also pointed out with a pencil in a photo). There are about a dozen of these with just four that show up from more than 6 feet back. Other than these minor issues, the oil painting is in good shape and does not have any craquelure (i.e., fine network of cracks within the paint). And as always, this item comes with a full satisfaction guarantee or return it (please see full return policy details below). .

POSTAGE & SHIPPING: All mainland US buyers pay the FIXED shipping/insurance amount of $9.40 for insured, specially boxed (not rolled), USPS Priority Mail (insurance is INCLUDED in this shipping amount for all mainland US addresses only). Any international buyer will also pay only actual shipping/insurance costs for all verifiable locations outside the continental US mainland and these costs will be determined upon receipt of your address details.

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Item ID: RL233.a418

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