William Harnett’s Trompe-l’œil Still Lifes
William Harnett was a Irish-American trompe-l’œil still life painter best know for his compositions involving everyday objects. The objects and artifacts of patrons who bought his work could often be seen in the paintings. His painting “The Artist’s Letter Rack”depicts a letter board pinned with old scraps of paper and mail. The image suggests a place of work and the text on the envelopes and scraps of paper suggest the business that commissioned the painting.
Harnett’s technique was impeccable though his subject matters weren’t in the traditional realm of fine art.
Manuel Franquelo
Robert Creamer – Fauna
John Whalley – Still Life
I am a sucker for highly detailed, painstakingly realistic, still life paintings. Particularly those of John Walley, detailed and loving studies of seemingly mundane objects, objects elevated to prominence by the skill of the artist. In each of his tempera works, nostalgia and memory enview his objects with a sense of memory, place, and time. You connect to these object even though you have never touched them.