GENERAL DESCRIPTION
William Michael Harnett was born in Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland in 1848, and his family emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania soon thereafter. Trained first as a silver engraver, Harnett turned to painting as the result of successful experimentation with the medium. His precise draftsmanship, together with his ability to render the textures of objects in paint, encouraged him to seek formal instruction.
After studying briefly at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, at which time he met and developed a friendship with fellow still-life painter John Frederick Peto, Harnett spent six years in Europe, from 1880 until 1886, four of them in Munich. There he met fellow American artists Frank Duveneck and William Merritt Chase, along with a vibrant international community of artists. Harnett's experiences in Europe fostered his emphasis on minutely observed realism in his work, and exposed him to the richness of the still-life tradition, from 17th-century vanitas images to the domestic interiors of Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. While in Germany, Harnett painted numerous tabletop still lifes, many of which relied on the arrangement of newspaper, pipes, vegetables, and tankards.
Under Harnett, still-life reached its peak in the 19th century, with his paintings of familiar or old objects, often shown with some trompe l'oeil, or fool-the-eye, effects created by reducing the picture plane to as shallow a space as possible. Towards the end of his short life, rheumatism and kidney disease made it difficult for him to paint. Harnett died in New York City in 1892 at the age of 44.
Adapted from
- Dr. Anne Bromberg, DMA unpublished material, 1987
- DMA unpublished material
NOTES
Harnett works in the collection:
1953.56, Munich Still Life, 1882-- see Bromberg, education files, 1987
The earliest American still-life painting appears in 18th century portraits, such as that in paintings by Copley and Charles Willson Peale. Peale also painted some pure still-life works, as did his brother James Peale. The center of American still-life painting in the 19th century was Philadelphia. The first generation of artists doing still-lifes in a neoclassical style is represented by the Peales, especially the work of Raphaelle Peale who also did trompe l'oeil or fool-the-eye paintings. The next generation painted in a Victorian style and a more painterly manner.
Artists of this type include Severin Rosen and John F. Francis. The third generation is represented by the work of William Harnett, whose work is tightly painted and exhibits a high degree of realism. Harnett's work grows out of both the Peale tradition and the work of the 17th century Dutch still-life artists. Under Harnett, still-life reaches its peak in the 19th century, with his paintings of familiar or old objects, often shown with some trompe l'oeil effects created by reducing the picture plane to as shallow a space as possible.
Harnett's second period is considered to extend from 1880 to 1886, when he worked mainly in Munich. In this period, he showed a more painterly technique, using highlights over much of the surface of the painting. Often his compositions are of a jug or beer stein, pipe, book and folded newspaper. The objects are arranged pyramidally on a table-top. From this period date his four versions of After the Hunt (his most famous work) and the DMA's Munich Still Life (a theme Harnett often treated). The Munich Still Life (1882) exhibits the pyramidal structure, though in it the artist has returned to his older, unpainter1y style, with hard edges and a sharpness and clarity of depiction. In the background one can see parts of posters on the wall, as well as a sketchy doodle. The objects depicted are largely familiar ones, and the old jug, representative of permanence, is contrasted with the folded newspaper, a symbol of impermanence. (See also Peto's Fish House Door.)
Bromberg, Description of selected works in the collection, education files, 1987
WILLIAM M . HARNETT
Harnett began his career as an engraver, studying at night at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and in New York at the National Academy of Design and at Cooper Institute. After many years he gave up engraving and devoted his time entirely to painting . Harnett exhi bited and painted in Paris and London and
stayed in Munich for four years of study, acquainting himself with the technique of the Dutch painters of still life. Although he commanded from his appreciative contemporaries such high prices as $5000 and $10,000 for a single canvas, his reputation since then had lapsed into obscurity and has only recently revived to give him official recognition as an "American Old Master" discovery. Histories of his known paintings are often impossible to obtain. Many of his pictures are lost and have so far resisted all efforts to locate them. There have been rnisattributions and forgeries, not many, but enough to confuse the issue thoroughly so far as Harnett himself is concerned and totally to obscure the highly important fact that he was not only the most important American still-life painter of his time but actually the central figure in a large and extremely interesting school of painting. Harnett's paintings arouse the interest and admiration of the present generation not only because of extraordinary technical mastery, but also for imaginative grouping patterns, similar to some directions in painting today. His textures are so remarkably achieved as to invite tactile as well as visual sampling. People touch canvases because they can't believe the objects in them aren 't real.
From Famous American Paintings assembled for the State Fair of TX 1948 exh cat.
Trained first as a silver engraver, Harnett turned to painting as the result of successful experimentation with the medium. His precise draftsmanship, together with his ability to render the textures of objects in paint, encouraged him to seek formal instruction. After studying briefly at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, at which time he met and developed a friendship with fellow still-life painter John Frederick Peto, Harnett spent six years in Europe, from 1880 until 1886, four of them in Munich. There he met fellow American artists Frank Duveneck and William Merritt Chase, along with a vibrant international community of artists. Harnett's experiences in Europe fostered his emphasis on minutely observed realism in his work, and exposed him to the richness of the still-life tradition, from seventeenth-century Vanitas images to the domestic interiors of Chardin. While in Germany, Harnett painted numerous tabletop still lifes, many of which relied on the arrangement of newspaper, pipes, vegetables, and tankards.
Curatorial Remarks in TMS
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Peto, John Frederick
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Martha MacLoed, "For a Limited Time: American Paintings on View from a Dallas Collection," DMA gallery talk, August 5, 2015.
UMO: 251965401
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General Description
William Michael Harnett was born in Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland in 1848, and his family emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania soon thereafter. Trained first as a silver engraver, Harnett turned to painting as the result of successful experimentation with the medium. His precise draftsmanship, together with his ability to render the textures of objects in paint, encouraged him to seek formal instruction.
After studying briefly at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, at which time he met and developed a friendship with fellow still-life painter John Frederick Peto, Harnett spent six years in Europe, from 1880 until 1886, four of them in Munich. There he met fellow American artists Frank Duveneck and William Merritt Chase, along with a vibrant international community of artists. Harnett's experiences in Europe fostered his emphasis on minutely observed realism in his work, and exposed him to the richness of the still-life tradition, from 17th-century vanitas images to the domestic interiors of Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. While in Germany, Harnett painted numerous tabletop still lifes, many of which relied on the arrangement of newspaper, pipes, vegetables, and tankards.
Under Harnett, still-life reached its peak in the 19th century, with his paintings of familiar or old objects, often shown with some trompe l'oeil, or fool-the-eye, effects created by reducing the picture plane to as shallow a space as possible. Towards the end of his short life, rheumatism and kidney disease made it difficult for him to paint. Harnett died in New York City in 1892 at the age of 44.
Adapted from
- Dr. Anne Bromberg, DMA unpublished material, 1987
- DMA unpublished material
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Harnett works in the collection:
1953.56, Munich Still Life, 1882-- see Bromberg, education files, 1987
The earliest American still-life painting appears in 18th century portraits, such as that in paintings by Copley and Charles Willson Peale. Peale also painted some pure still-life works, as did his brother James Peale. The center of American still-life painting in the 19th century was Philadelphia. The first generation of artists doing still-lifes in a neoclassical style is represented by the Peales, especially the work of Raphaelle Peale who also did trompe l'oeil or fool-the-eye paintings. The next generation painted in a Victorian style and a more painterly manner.
Artists of this type include Severin Rosen and John F. Francis. The third generation is represented by the work of William Harnett, whose work is tightly painted and exhibits a high degree of realism. Harnett's work grows out of both the Peale tradition and the work of the 17th century Dutch still-life artists. Under Harnett, still-life reaches its peak in the 19th century, with his paintings of familiar or old objects, often shown with some trompe l'oeil effects created by reducing the picture plane to as shallow a space as possible.
Harnett's second period is considered to extend from 1880 to 1886, when he worked mainly in Munich. In this period, he showed a more painterly technique, using highlights over much of the surface of the painting. Often his compositions are of a jug or beer stein, pipe, book and folded newspaper. The objects are arranged pyramidally on a table-top. From this period date his four versions of After the Hunt (his most famous work) and the DMA's Munich Still Life (a theme Harnett often treated). The Munich Still Life (1882) exhibits the pyramidal structure, though in it the artist has returned to his older, unpainter1y style, with hard edges and a sharpness and clarity of depiction. In the background one can see parts of posters on the wall, as well as a sketchy doodle. The objects depicted are largely familiar ones, and the old jug, representative of permanence, is contrasted with the folded newspaper, a symbol of impermanence. (See also Peto's Fish House Door.)
Bromberg, Description of selected works in the collection, education files, 1987
WILLIAM M . HARNETT
Harnett began his career as an engraver, studying at night at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and in New York at the National Academy of Design and at Cooper Institute. After many years he gave up engraving and devoted his time entirely to painting . Harnett exhi bited and painted in Paris and London and
stayed in Munich for four years of study, acquainting himself with the technique of the Dutch painters of still life. Although he commanded from his appreciative contemporaries such high prices as $5000 and $10,000 for a single canvas, his reputation since then had lapsed into obscurity and has only recently revived to give him official recognition as an "American Old Master" discovery. Histories of his known paintings are often impossible to obtain. Many of his pictures are lost and have so far resisted all efforts to locate them. There have been rnisattributions and forgeries, not many, but enough to confuse the issue thoroughly so far as Harnett himself is concerned and totally to obscure the highly important fact that he was not only the most important American still-life painter of his time but actually the central figure in a large and extremely interesting school of painting. Harnett's paintings arouse the interest and admiration of the present generation not only because of extraordinary technical mastery, but also for imaginative grouping patterns, similar to some directions in painting today. His textures are so remarkably achieved as to invite tactile as well as visual sampling. People touch canvases because they can't believe the objects in them aren 't real.
From Famous American Paintings assembled for the State Fair of TX 1948 exh cat.
Trained first as a silver engraver, Harnett turned to painting as the result of successful experimentation with the medium. His precise draftsmanship, together with his ability to render the textures of objects in paint, encouraged him to seek formal instruction. After studying briefly at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, at which time he met and developed a friendship with fellow still-life painter John Frederick Peto, Harnett spent six years in Europe, from 1880 until 1886, four of them in Munich. There he met fellow American artists Frank Duveneck and William Merritt Chase, along with a vibrant international community of artists. Harnett's experiences in Europe fostered his emphasis on minutely observed realism in his work, and exposed him to the richness of the still-life tradition, from seventeenth-century Vanitas images to the domestic interiors of Chardin. While in Germany, Harnett painted numerous tabletop still lifes, many of which relied on the arrangement of newspaper, pipes, vegetables, and tankards.
Curatorial Remarks in TMS
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