Lot 370: American School, 19th c., Possibly Mary Jane Peale

American School, 19th c., Possibly Mary Jane Peale (American, 1827-1902), "Still Life with White Grapes, Pears, and Nectarines," oil on board, unsigned, 13 1/2 in. x 18 in., unframed.

Note: When looking at any early American still life, it is important to remember the Peale family and their significant contributions to the develop-ment of trompe l'oeil painting in the United States. Mary Jane Peale, daughter of Rubens Peale and granddaughter of Charles Willson Peale, was one of the last great artists of the Peale dynasty of Philadelphia and New York. She was primarily a portrait and still life painter whose works are displayed in such museums as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, and the Westmore Museum of American Art in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. This still life scene, like many of her works, reveals Peale's aptitude at arranging the composition in an interesting and artistic manner. The ex-tremely dark background of the painting illustrated here is feature sometimes used by Mary, while the other Peale family members tended to depict an angled ray of light behind the still life scene. The stunning, realistically depicted scene demonstrates her ttention to detail and the beautiful manner in which she treats each different surface texture. The flesh of the ripe nectarines and pears looks soft, while the grapes appear firmer due to the taught skin with a bright highlight on each. The gray-veined marble is treated in a completely different manner, seeming cold, hard, and smooth; this handling is similar to the marble in another painting by Mary Peale, a Still Life located at the Mead Art Museum in Am-herst, Massachusetts. References: Miller, Lillian B. The Peale Family: Creation of a Legacy, 1770-1870 Abeville Press, New York, 1996 http://www.askart.com