The Old Violin

c. 1890

John Frederick Peto

Artist, American, 1854 - 1907

A violin, bow, and a tattered page of sheet music hang from a dark, forest-green, wooden door in this vertical painting. The string holding the violin hangs from a nail just above the sheet music. The violin hangs at an angle so the neck points slightly to our right. The bow hangs almost vertically behind the violin’s body. White powder coats the violin under the strings, one of which is broken. The sheet of music is titled “VIOLIN” and the musical notation is legible. The edges of the paper are chipped and wrinkled. Several pins are pounded into the wooden door, and a few small holes and vertical cracks mar its surface. The tip of one of two scrolling, gold hinges to are left is broken. A keyhole to our right is surrounded a brass plate, and a gold key hangs nearby. A scrap of newspaper is pasted on the door just below the violin to our right, but the text is illegible. The green paint is worn away on the left and right edges of the composition. The initials “JFP” appear to be carved into the door just above the violin to our left. The artist’s name is painted in black near the lower left corner, “John. F. Peto.”

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of the Avalon Foundation

  • Dimensions

    overall: 77.2 × 58.1 cm (30 3/8 × 22 7/8 in.)
    framed: 97.47 × 78.11 × 5.72 cm (38 3/8 × 30 3/4 × 2 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1974.19.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Private collection, Palm Beach, Florida;[1] (Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York); purchased 1974 by NGA.
[1] According to a note from Hirschl & Adler, 15 January 1974, NGA curatorial file, the painting was owned by the unidentified private collector "from at least 1953 until 1973."

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1983

  • Important Information Inside: The Art of John F. Peto and the Idea of Still-Life Painting in Nineteenth-Century America, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas, 1983, no. 132.

2008

  • Feast for the Eyes: American Masterworks from the National Gallery of Art, Academy Art Museum, Easton, Maryland, 2008, no cat.

  • The Deluded Eye. Five Centuries of Deception, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2008-2009, no. 90, repro.

Bibliography

1980

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: no. 37, color repro.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 207, repro.

1981

  • Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: color repro. 159, 176, 178.

1983

  • Wilmerding, John. Important Information Inside: The Art of John F. Peto and the Idea of Still-Life Painting in Nineteenth-Century America. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1983: 146-149, 238, pl. 132.

1988

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 128, no. 41, color repro.

1991

  • Gingold, Diane J., and Elizabeth A.C. Weil. The Corporate Patron. New York, 1991: 166-167, color repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 259, repro.

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: 259, repro.

1998

  • Torchia, Robert Wilson, with Deborah Chotner and Ellen G. Miles. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1998: 76-80, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: John F. PEto.; upper left in simulated carving: JFP

Wikidata ID

Q20190204

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