Still Life

William Michael Harnett was born in Ireland, grew up in Philadelphia, and was trained as an engraver.  Perhaps the technical precision required of his work as an engraver influenced his preoccupation with the realism he achieved in his paintings.  His work in the still life genre was characterized by a remarkable facility to create the illusion of three dimensions depicting very common objects like books, pipes, and pocket knives. 

In this painting he continues the Peale tradition of quiet, precise renderings of fruit, with a difference: the fruit lies in a rustic basket, not a bowl.  The basket is pictured with respectful attentiveness to its own simple gifts – the sparse elegance of its symmetrical design, the graceful arc of the handle, the glistening tacks, and the subtle handling of the texture and coloring of the wood.