Two Pears on a Tabletop
c. 1866
Painter, American, 1823 - 1880
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 28.6 x 29.9 cm (11 1/4 x 11 3/4 in.)
framed: 39.37 × 40.01 × 4.45 cm (15 1/2 × 15 3/4 × 1 3/4 in.) -
Accession
2001.130.1
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Acquired 1867 by John T. Wilson, New York. (Vose Galleries, Boston); purchased 27 April 1964 by William H. Gerdts [1929-2020], New York;[1] gift (partial and promised) 2001 to NGA.
[1] The Vose stock number was 21383, and the buyer-of-record was Henry M. Fuller, who purchased the painting for Gerdts and held it until Gerdts reimbursed him (per 12 December 2001 letter from Abigail Booth Gerdts to Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., in NGA curatorial files).
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1880
[Exhibition at the Gifford Memorial Meeting], Century Club, New York, 1880, no. 17, as Fruit.
1965
[Still lifes of edible subjects from the collection of William H. Gerdts, on occasion of publication of cookbook by William and Lois Katzenbach], Board Room, American Federation of the Arts, New York, c. 1965, no catalogue, label no. 25.
1966
Mid-Nineteenth Century American Painting from the Collections of Henry M. Fuller and William H. Gerdts, Cummer Gallery of Art, Jacksonville, 1966, no. 24, repro.
1970
150 Years of American Still-Life Painting. An Exhibition for the Benefit of The Kips Bay Boys' Club, Coe Kerr Gallery, Inc., New York, 1970, no. 19, repro.
1976
American Cornucopia: 19th Century Still Lifes and Studies, The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, 1976, no. 21.
1981
Painters of the Humble Truth: Masterpieces of American Still Life, 1801 – 1939, Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa; Oakland Art Museum; Baltimore Museum of Art; National Academy of Design, New York, 1981-82, no. 5.19.
1998
For Beauty and For Truth, Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst; Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, 1998, unnumbered catalogue, pl. 5.
Bibliography
1881
Weir, John F. A Memorial Catalogue of the Paintings of Sanford Robinson Gifford, N.A., New York, 1881: no. 459, as A Study of Pears.
1971
Gerdts, William H., and Russell Burke. American Still-Life Painting. New York, 1971: 105, fig. 7-6.
1977
Weiss, Ila. Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823-1880). New York and London, 1977: 262-263, figs. VII I 5, VII I 6.
1981
Gerdts, William H. Painters of the Humble Truth: Masterpieces of American Still Life 1801-1939. Columbia, 1981: 106, fig. 5.19.
1987
Weiss, Ila. Poetic Landscape: The Art and Experience of Sanford R. Gifford. Newark, DE, 1987: 320, repro., as Pears and Wine.
Inscriptions
lower left on envelope: Gifford / 15 10th St / N.Y.
Wikidata ID
Q20188687