Three Pears and an Apple, 1857

Not on View

Medium

oil on board

Dimensions

overall (arched top): 21.6 x 34.3 cm (8 1/2 x 13 1/2 in.)

framed: 39.69 × 51.75 × 4.76 cm (15 5/8 × 20 3/8 × 1 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of William and Abigail Gerdts

Accession Number

2003.152.1

Artists / Makers

David Johnson (painter) American, 1827 - 1908

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

lower right: with Compliments of / D. Johnson 1857

Provenance

Mrs. Hilda Potter, Madison, New Jersey. (Rabin & Krueger, Newark); purchased 1956 by William H. Gerdts [1929-2020], New York;[1] gift (partial and promised) 2003 to NGA.

[1] Gerdts, William H., and Bruce Cole. "The Collection." Humanities 28, no. 5 (September/October 2007): 52.

Associated Names

Gerdts, William H., Dr. and Mrs.
Rabin & Krueger

Exhibition History

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. 39.

1966: Mid-Nineteenth Century American Painting from the Collections of Henry M. Fuller and William H. Gerdts, Cummer Gallery of Art, Jacksonville, 1966, no. 34.

1968: The American Vision, Publicataion Education Association, New York, 1968, no. 39.

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. 23, repro.

1976: American Cornucopia: 19th Century Still Lifes and Studies, The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, 1976, no. 30, repro.

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. 5.18.

1988: Nature Transcribed: The Landscapes and Still Lifes of David Johnson (1827-1908), Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca; The Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park; Georgia Museum of Art, Athens; National Academy of Design, New York, 1988-1989, no. 6, repro. (shown only in Ithaca and New York City).

1998: For Beauty and For Truth: The William and Abigail Gerdts Collection of American Still Life, Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Massachusetts; Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, 1998, unnumbered catalogue, color pl. 1, repro. 71.

Bibliography

1971: Gerdts, William H., and Russell Burke. American Still-Life Painting. New York, 1971: 105, fig. 7-1.

1980: Baur, John I.H. "'...the exact brushwork of Mr. David Johnson.' An American Landscape Painter, 1827-1908." The American Art Journal 12, no. 4 (Autumn 1980): 43, 44 n. 7.

1981: Gerdts, William H. Painters of the Humble Truth: Masterpieces of American Still Life 1801-1939. Columbia, 1981: 106-107, fig. 5.18.