Joseph Decker

American, 1853 - 1924

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American painter

Explore Selected Works

Joseph Decker, Grapes, c. 1890/1895, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1994.59.3

Grapes

Joseph Decker · c. 1890/1895 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1994.59.3

Still Life with Crab Apples and Grapes

Joseph Decker · 1888 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2020.162.1

About two dozen round, pale green plums tumble out of an upended square wooden box onto a reflective, dark brown surface in this horizontal still life painting. Many of the plums have a frosty sheen and about half of them lie in a pile within the basket. The other dozen spill out of the box onto the wood tabletop. Most have stubby stems, and one, closest to us, has a longer stem with two browning leaves. The leaves and round fruit create reflections on the polished wood surface. The box was made by weaving broad sheets of light wood into a square. The layers are visible along the upper edge, which faces us. There are a few dark spots and imperfections in the wood. An ice-blue cloth hangs behind the box and crinkles in folds along the table. The artist signed the work in the lower right, “J.Decker.”
Joseph Decker, Green Plums, c. 1885, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1994.59.4

Green Plums

Joseph Decker · c. 1885 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1994.59.4

Joseph Decker, Ripening Pears, c. 1884/1885, oil on canvas, Gift of Ann and Mark Kington/The Kington Foundation and the Avalon Fund, 2004.29.1

Ripening Pears

Joseph Decker · c. 1884/1885 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2004.29.1

Bibliography

1978

  • Cooper, Helen A. "The Rediscovery of Joseph Decker." The American Art Journal 5 (May 1978): 55-71.

1988

  • Gerdts, William Joseph Decker (1853-1924): Still Lifes, Landscapes and Images of Youth. Exh. cat. Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, 1988.

1996

  • Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 122-123.