William Michael Harnett (August 10, 1848 – October 29, 1892) was an
Irish-
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
known for his
trompe-l'œil still life
A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
s of ordinary objects.
Early life
Harnett was born in
Clonakilty,
County Cork, Ireland during the time of the
Great Famine. Shortly after his birth his family emigrated to America, settling in
Philadelphia. Becoming a United States citizen in 1868, he made a living as a young man by engraving designs on table silver, while also taking night classes at the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and later, in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, at
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...
and at the
National Academy of Design. His first known oil painting, a still life, dates from 1874.
Work
The style of trompe-l'œil painting that Harnett developed was distinctive and inspired many imitators,
[Frankenstein 1970, p. 56.] but it was not without precedent. A number of
17th century Dutch painters,
Pieter Claesz for instance, had specialized in tabletop still life of astonishing
verisimilitude.
Raphaelle Peale
Raphaelle Peale (sometimes spelled Raphael Peale) (February 17, 1774 – March 4, 1825) is considered the first professional American painter of still-life.
Biography
Peale was born in Annapolis, Maryland, the fifth child, though eldest survivin ...
, working in Philadelphia in the early 19th century, pioneered the form in America. What sets Harnett's work apart, besides his enormous skill, is his interest in depicting objects not usually made the subject of a painting.
Harnett painted musical instruments, hanging game, and tankards, but also painted the unconventional ''Golden Horseshoe'' (1886), a single rusted horseshoe shown nailed to a board. He painted a casual jumble of second-hand books set on top of a crate, ''Job Lot, Cheap'' (1878), as well as firearms and even paper currency. His works sold well, but they were more likely to be found hanging in a tavern or a business office than in a museum, as they did not conform to contemporary notions of high art.
Harnett spent the years 1880–1886 in Europe,
staying in
Munich from 1881 until early 1885. Harnett's best-known paintings, the four versions of ''After The Hunt'', were painted between 1883 and 1885. Each is an imposing composition of hunting equipment and dead game, hanging on a door with ornate hinges at the right and keyhole plate at the left. These paintings, like the horseshoe or currency depictions mentioned earlier, are especially effective as trompe-l'œil because the objects occupy a shallow space, meaning that the illusion is not spoiled by
parallax
Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...
shift if the viewer moves.
Overall, Harnett's work is most comparable to that of the slightly younger
John F. Peto
John Frederick Peto (May 21, 1854 – November 23, 1907) was an American ''trompe-l'œil'' ("fool the eye") Painting, painter who was long forgotten until his paintings were rediscovered along with those of fellow ''trompe-l'œil'' artist William ...
. The two artists knew each other, and a comparison can be made between two paintings featuring
violins. Harnett's ''Music and Good Luck'' from 1888 shows the violin hanging upright on a door with ornate hinges and with a slightly torn piece of sheet music behind it. The elements are arranged in a stable, deliberate manner. Peto's 1890 painting shows the violin hanging askew, as well as chipped and worn, with one string broken. The sheet music is dog-eared and torn around the edges, and placed haphazardly behind the instrument. The hinges are less ornate, and one is broken. Harnett's objects show signs of use but are well preserved, while Peto's more humble objects are nearly used up.
Later years and death
Crippling
rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...
plagued Harnett in his last years, reducing the number but not the quality of his paintings. He died in
New York City in 1892 and was interred at the Old Cathedral Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Other artists who painted similar compositions in Harnett's wake include his contemporary
John Haberle
John Haberle (1856–1933) was an American painter in the ''trompe-l'œil'' (literally, "fool the eye") style. His still lifes of ordinary objects are painted in such a way that the painting can be mistaken for the objects themselves. He is consid ...
and successors such as
Otis Kaye
Otis Kaye (1885–1974) was an American artist during the early 20th century. He is noted especially for ''trompe-l'œil'' paintings of U.S. currency.
Life and work
Otis Kaye carried on the ''trompe-l'œil'' tradition of William Harnett, J ...
,
Jefferson David Chalfant
Jefferson David Chalfant (November 6, 1856 – February 3, 1931) was an American painter who is remembered mostly for his ''trompe-l'œil'' still life paintings.
Biography
Chalfant was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, but moved in youn ...
, and
Richard La Barre Goodwin
Richard La Barre Goodwin (March 26, 1840 - December 10, 1910), also known as LaBarre Goodwin, was an American ''trompe-l'œil'' painter best known for his depictions of cabin doors, but also active in portraits and still lives of fruit, flowers, a ...
.
Collections
Harnett's work is in collections in the
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (Utica, New York),
Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, New York), the
Amon Carter Museum (Texas), the
Dallas Museum of Art, the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
, the
Brooklyn Museum of Art, the
Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh), the
Cincinnati Art Museum, the
Cleveland Museum of Art, the
Detroit Institute of Arts, the
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,
Harvard University Art Museums
The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...
, the
High Museum of Art (Atlanta, Georgia), the
Honolulu Museum of Art, the
Joslyn Art Museum (Nebraska), the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
(Washington D.C.), the
National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), the
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...
, the
San Diego Museum of Art (California),
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Madrid), the
Toledo Museum of Art (Ohio), the
Wadsworth Atheneum (Connecticut), and the
Wichita Art Museum among others.
Gallery
File:Still Life William Michael Harnett 1877.jpeg, ''Still Life'', 1877
File:Music and Literature William Michael Harnett.jpeg, ''Music and Literature'', 1878
File:Secretary's Table William Michael Harnett 1879.jpeg, ''Secretary's Table'', 1879
File:Harnett William A Study Table 1882.jpg, ''A Study Table'', 1882
File:William Michael Harnett After the Hunt 1883.jpg, ''After the Hunt'', 1883, Huntington Library, San Marino, CA
File:William Michael Harnett After the Hunt 1884.jpg, ''After the Hunt'', 1884, Butler Institute of American Art
The Butler Institute of American Art, located on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, was the first museum dedicated exclusively to American art. Established by local industrialist and philanthropist Joseph G. Butler, Jr., the museum h ...
, Youngstown, Ohio
File:William Michael Harnett After the Hunt 1885.jpg, ''After the Hunt'', 1885, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco
File:The Old Violin A11288.jpg, ''The Old Violin'', 1886, National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
, Washington, DC.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
File:William Michael Harnett Still life Violin and Music.jpg, ''Music and Good Luck'', 1888, Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:William Michael Harnett - With the Staats Zeitung.jpg, ''With the "Staats Zeitung'', 1890
File:William Michael Harnett 001.jpg, ''The Faithful Colt'', Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, 1890
File:William Michael Harnett (American, 1848-1892). Still Life with Three Castles Tobacco, 1880.jpg, ''Still Life with Three Castles Tobacco'', 1880, Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
Legacy
William M. Harnett was honored with a U.S.
commemorative stamp in 1969, first placed on sale at Boston, Massachusetts, on December 3, 1969. The painting featured in the stamp is ''Old Models'', which is held in the collection of the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Notes
References
*Frankenstein, Alfred. ''The Reality of Appearance: The Trompe l'Oeil Tradition in American Painting''. Greenwich, Connecticut: New York Graphic Society Ltd, 1970.
Further reading
* Frankenstein, Alfred. ''After the Hunt: William Harnett and other American Still Life Painters 1870–1900''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1953.
External links
A digitized scrapbook and two exhibition catalogs of William Harnett's workfrom The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harnett, William
1848 births
1892 deaths
19th-century American painters
American male painters
Cooper Union alumni
Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923)
National Academy of Design alumni
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni
People from County Cork
Irish still life painters
American still life painters
Trompe-l'œil artists