This painting shows various pieces of fruit arranged in a thin white bowl, including apples, peaches, green and purple grapes, cherries, pears, and plums. Some of the fruit is overflowing from the bowl, and rests on the white surface below, surrounding the bowl. Many of the pieces of fruit have thin stems attached to them, and some have thick green leaves. Behind the fruit, the background is dark brown, and there is a tan arched border around the painting.

Fruit Still Life

Robert Seldon Duncanson

This painting shows various pieces of fruit arranged in a thin white bowl, including apples, peaches, green and purple grapes, cherries, pears, and plums. Some of the fruit is overflowing from the bowl, and rests on the white surface below, surrounding the bowl. Many of the pieces of fruit have thin stems attached to them, and some have thick green leaves. Behind the fruit, the background is dark brown, and there is a tan arched border around the painting.

Colors in this work

Details

Date
c. 1849
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 34.29 × 48.26 cm (13 1/2 × 19 in.) framed: 50.8 × 66.04 cm (20 × 26 in.)
Department
CAB
Holding institution
National Gallery of Art
Image provider
national-gallery-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase through a gift from the Reserve for Purchase of Works of Art, 1968)

Art Genome Taxonomy

7 tags

Subject Matter

  • Still Life Both · 99%

    The title and catalog description identify a fruit still life, and the image visibly shows inanimate fruit arranged as the central subject.

  • Group of Objects Visual · 98%

    Numerous distinct fruits, a bowl, leaves, stems, and tendrils are organized together as a display of objects.

Visual Qualities

  • Dense Composition Visual · 93%

    The fruit occupies a broad central and lower band, with extensive overlap and clustered forms producing a visually concentrated arrangement.

  • Dark Colors Visual · 95%

    A large deep brown background and dark purple and green passages establish a predominantly dark tonal field, contrasted by lighter and warmer fruit.

Medium and Techniques

  • Painting Both · 99%

    The catalog classifies the work as a painting, and the image visibly presents a painted arrangement of objects.

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 99%

    The National Gallery of Art records the medium as oil on canvas.

Time Periods

  • 19th Century Art Metadata · 99%

    The catalog dates the work circa 1849, placing it within the nineteenth century.

Source & rights

Robert Seldon Duncanson. Fruit Still Life. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

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