Artwork
A Pomegranate, Siena
A Pomegranate, Siena is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist George Henry Hall. It dates from 1885 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower right: Geo. Henry Hall / Siena '85
About this work
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting executed on canvas, reflecting a straightforward application of oil paint in a naturalistic style. The composition maintains a balanced arrangement of the titular fruit within a shallow pictorial space, emphasizing clarity of line and tonal modulation characteristic of Hall's still-life practice.
History & Provenance
Gerdts, a New York collector who owned the work by at least 1965 and lent it to an American Federation of the Arts exhibition around that time.
A Pomegranate, Siena is an oil painting on canvas created in 1885 by George Henry Hall. It entered the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., through a 2018 gift from William H. Gerdts, a New York collector who owned the work by at least 1965 and lent it to an American Federation of the Arts exhibition around that time. The painting measures 18.42 cm by 22.86 cm and remains in the museum's collection.
Overview
Created in 1885, A Pomegranate, Siena is an oil painting on canvas that presents a single fruit rendered with meticulous realism. The composition centers on a halved pomegranate set upon a darkened tabletop, its interior seeds spilling outward. The contrast between the deep background and the vivid red of the fruit draws immediate visual focus to the subject.
Subject & Meaning
The work depicts a freshly cut pomegranate, its glossy seeds exposed and some scattered across the surface. By choosing an everyday object and emphasizing its tactile qualities, the painting aligns with a realist interest in ordinary, tangible subjects, inviting contemplation of the fruit’s natural beauty and fleeting moment of dissection.
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Artist & collection
Artist
George Henry Hall (1825–1913) was an American still-life and landscape artist. He studied art in Düsseldorf and Paris and he worked and lived in New York City, the Catskills of New York and in Europe. His works are in…
