Artwork
Bowl of Fruit
Bowl of Fruit is a watercolor painting by the Realist artist William Stearns. It dates from 1835 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: PAINTED BY; lower right: WILLIAM STEARNS; both probably applied with a stamp
About this work
Technique & Style
The painting Bowl of Fruit by William Stearns is executed in watercolor on velveteen, a technique identified as theorem painting.
The painting Bowl of Fruit by William Stearns is executed in watercolor on velveteen, a technique identified as theorem painting. It measures 47.3 cm in height and 52.7 cm in width, reflecting the formal scale typical of early American folk works. The composition features a tightly arranged still life of fruit rendered with careful attention to contour and subtle tonal variation, emphasizing a flat, decorative quality characteristic of the genre.
The work is presently held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it has been part of the collection since 1953.
History & Provenance
The work was painted in 1835 by William Stearns in New England, where it remained until it entered the holdings of Isabel Carlton Wilde in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
By 1946 it had passed to Edith Gregor Halpert’s American Folk Art Gallery in New York, which then sold it to collectors Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. The Garbisches later donated the painting to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1953.
Bowl of Fruit is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Its provenance traces from New England through Isabel Carlton Wilde of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the American Folk Art Gallery in New York, where Edith Gregor Halpert sold it in 1946 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. The Garbisches subsequently gave the work to the National Gallery of Art in 1953.
Overview
William Stearns’s Bowl of Fruit is a modestly sized work executed in watercolor around 1835. The composition presents a simple arrangement of assorted fruit placed in a bowl atop a flat surface, rendered with a restrained palette that emphasizes form and light. Though modest in scale, the piece exemplifies the domestic still‑life tradition that was prevalent in early nineteenth‑century American painting.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a commonplace still‑life: a bowl filled with various fruits, likely apples, pears, and citrus, set on a table. Such subjects allowed artists to explore texture, color, and the play of light while evoking themes of abundance and the fleeting nature of nourishment. The work’s quiet focus on everyday objects reflects a broader cultural interest in cataloguing the material world.
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