Provenance

Victor D. Spark

Spark, Victor

American, 1898 - 1991

Explore Selected Works

See all 42 works of art
American 19th Century, Eagle, 19th century, carved and gilded wood, Corcoran Collection (Gift of John A. Nevius in memory of Avon M. and Ethel S. Nevius), 2015.19.3784

Eagle

American 19th Century · 19th century · carved and gilded wood ·  Accession ID  2015.19.3784

Christian Schussele, Design for an Emblem of the State of South Carolina, c. 1860, pen and black ink with wash on heavy wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Membership Association Fund), 2015.19.755

Design for an Emblem of the State of South Carolina

Christian Schussele · c. 1860 · pen and black ink with wash on heavy wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.755

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On the Ohio

Thomas Anshutz · c. 1880 · oil on linen on composition board ·  Accession ID  2015.19.95

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Still Life

M.A. Goode · second half 19th century · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1978.80.7

A crusty piece of bread, a short glass of water, a black top hat, a pink conch shell, more than a dozen books, and papers are crammed into an arched alcove in this nearly square still life painting. Lining the bottom edge of the alcove, the long, thin spine of a brown book is printed with the title, “CHOICE CRITICISM ON THE EXHIBITIONS AT PHILADELPHIA” in gold against a red background. To our right, a red portfolio holds a sheaf of loose papers under a thick book titled “LIVES OF THE PAINTERS.” A crusty hunk of bread and a black-handled knife sit on a ceramic plate on the thick book. To our left, two calling cards with handwritten notes lean on the short glass of water. Both are addressed to “Palette” and one is an invitation to visit after tea and other asks about a debt of five dollars. The glass holds open the pages of a book propped against the niche, and the title page reads, “ADVANTAGES OF POVERTY THIRD PART.” The title of a second book behind the glass, missing its cover, reads, “PLEASURES OF HOPE,” though the page is ripped through the word “hope.” The light green, brown, or red spines of a row of books behind this, along the back of the niche, are titled, from left to right: “CHEYENE ON VEGETABLE DIET,” then “MISERIES OF LIFE” to our left, and “BURTONS ANATOMY OF MELANCOL” and “SIGNS OF THE TIMES” near the center. One of the two spines in shadow to our right reads “CALAMITIES OF AUTHOR.” A protractor tucked into a small notebook with a gray cover and red edges leans on the books near the center. More books are piled on top. Three of those spines are written in cursive handwriting with “Unpaid Bills,” “We Fly by Night,” and “No Son No Supper.” The conch shell sits along the edges of the standing books below to our left, with its gleaming rosy pink and golden tan interior facing us. A tightly rolled sheaf of papers wrapped with a sky-blue sheet rests diagonally from the upper left corner of the niche down behind the bread. What looks like a newspaper clipping is tied at the center with the headline “Just Published.” A tattered black top hat is wedged between the tightly rolled paper and loose, curling papers stacked above. One of the loose sheets is titled “LAUGHING PHILOSOPHER” and handwriting on another reads, “Perspective view of the County Gaot of Philadelphia.” Another newspaper clipping is affixed to the upper left face of the beige-colored stone niche. It has the headline, “SHERIFF’S SALE THE PROPERTY OF THE ARTIST,” and continues, “Consisting of One Cradle, One Blanket, Two pair of Ruffles, Petticoat, Silk Stockings, and Peck of Potatoes. Four Pictures, of Roast Pigs, Turkies Decanters of Wine and Plumb Cake Painted from Recollection. Fall of the Giants, and View of Paradise, sixteen feet by twenty. Comforts of Matrimony, odd volume. Short Cut to Wealth. Sermon on The Vanity of Human Pursuits. Philadelphia Jan 1st 1812.”
Charles Bird King, Poor Artist's Cupboard, c. 1815, oil on wood, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund and exchange), 2014.79.24

Poor Artist's Cupboard

Charles Bird King · c. 1815 · oil on wood ·  Accession ID  2014.79.24

American 19th Century, Entrance to Kauterskill Clove, Catskill Mountains, 19th century, watercolor and gouache on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Acquired through a gift of Emily Sargent and Violet Ormond), 2015.19.773

Entrance to Kauterskill Clove, Catskill Mountains

American 19th Century · 19th century · watercolor and gouache on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.773

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Joseph Outen Bogart

Rembrandt Peale · c. 1822 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2015.19.84

Jasper Francis Cropsey, James McCullough's Leadmill, 1844, graphite and gray ink wash with gouache on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Membership Association Fund), 2015.19.560

James McCullough's Leadmill

Jasper Francis Cropsey · 1844 · graphite and gray ink wash with gouache on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.560

Twigs of a magnolia tree with light green, glossy leaves and three cream-white blossoms lie on a sapphire-blue cloth in this horizontal still life painting. Brightly lit from our left, the blossoms and leaves nearly fill the composition, and the cut ends lie on the fabric to our right. The blue fabric cascades from the upper left and across the table or ledge. The three flowers are in various stages of bloom. The tightest bud is to our left, overlapped by a stem and the tender, unfurling leaves of a branch. The blossom next to it, at the center, is starting to open. The petals of the third blossom, to our right, splay open around the flower’s oval-shaped stamen. Light glints off the waxy leaves surrounding the flowers. The tawny-brown underside of one leaf is visible where it turns over, near the cut ends of the branches. Light shimmering on the fabric darkens from bright blue to our right, to deep royal blue in the shadows to the upper left, suggesting the fabric is velvet. The background is streaked with tan and pine green behind the fabric, and becomes nearly black in the shadows of the upper right corner and along the bottom edge. The artist signed the lower right corner, "MJ. Heade."
Martin Johnson Heade, Giant Magnolias on a Blue Velvet Cloth, c. 1890, oil on canvas, Gift of The Circle of the National Gallery of Art in Commemoration of its 10th Anniversary, 1996.14.1

Giant Magnolias on a Blue Velvet Cloth

Martin Johnson Heade · c. 1890 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1996.14.1

Worthington Whittredge, Lake Houses, late 19th century, charcoal on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Membership Association Fund), 2015.19.777

Lake Houses

Worthington Whittredge · late 19th century · charcoal on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.777