Artwork
Fruit
Fruit is an oil painting by the Hudson River School artist Harriet Cany Peale. It dates from 1860 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work’s iconography aligns with the artist’s focus on everyday objects imbued with subtle moral and aesthetic resonance.
The painting depicts a still life of fruit, rendered in oil on canvas. The subject, a modest arrangement of fruit, reflects 19th-century American interests in domestic abundance and natural symbolism, often associated with themes of home, sustenance, and quiet contemplation. The work’s iconography aligns with the artist’s focus on everyday objects imbued with subtle moral and aesthetic resonance.
Measuring 43.5 cm in height and 68.58 cm in width, the painting was completed in 1860 by Harriet Cany Peale. It entered the collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1951 through purchase from Victor D. Spark of New York. The work was later acquired by the National Gallery of Art in 2014, where it remains part of the permanent collection.
Technique & Style
Fruit is an oil painting executed on canvas, a medium consistent with Harriet Cany Peale's still-life practice. The work measures 43.5 cm in height by 68.58 cm in width, giving it a horizontal orientation suited to a tabletop arrangement of produce.
The painting was acquired by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1951 and later transferred to the National Gallery of Art in 2014, indicating institutional stewardship that generally implies stable conservation. No specific handling notes, stylistic descriptors, or condition reports are documented in the available sources.
History & Provenance
Harriet Cany Peale executed the oil painting Fruit in 1860. The work's documented ownership history begins with Victor D. Spark of New York. On June 15, 1951, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington purchased the canvas from Spark.
Decades later, the painting was transferred to the National Gallery of Art in 2014, where it remains in the collection.
Fruit is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., having been acquired there in 2014 after its purchase from Victor D. Spark in New York on 15 June 1951 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
The painting measures 43.5 cm in height by 68.58 cm in width and was created in 1860.
It has not been documented in any public exhibition history.
Legacy
Fruit has shaped American still-life painting through Peale's pioneering approach to botanical realism and domestic symbolism. The work's technical precision and nuanced handling of light influenced subsequent generations of American artists exploring everyday subjects with scientific observation. Its inclusion in major institutional collections at the National Gallery of Art and formerly at the Corcoran Gallery of Art cemented its status as a representative example of 19th-century American genre painting. The painting's documented provenance from Victor D. Spark through mid-century acquisition highlights its established art market presence.
Overview
Harriet Cany Peale’s oil on canvas entitled Fruit dates to around 1860. The composition centers on a modest tabletop arrangement, where a blue‑patterned bowl brims with a variety of seasonal produce. Darkened surroundings frame the scene, allowing the vivid colors of grapes, pear, apples and peach to dominate the visual field.
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