Still Life with Roses

Object Details

Created by

Charles Ethan Porter, American, 1847 - 1923

Caption

Charles Ethan Porter’s exceptional ability to interpret the natural world enabled him to build his career as a celebrated Connecticut artist. Classically trained, he attended both the National Academy of Design in New York (1869) and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (1881).

Following his return to the United States in 1884, Porter created Still Life with Roses. The painting’s soft palette, light background, and delicately rendered flowers reveal the aesthetic influence of French artist Henri Fantin-Latour, while retaining many of Porter’s uniquely American sensibilities. Porter’s still lifes were widely admired and collected by Connecticut residents, including landscape painter Frederic E. Church of the Hudson River School, who proclaimed Porter to be one of the finest colorists in history.

Description

This oil painting depicts a bouquet of off-white Christmas roses and greenery in a brown bowl. The round bowl, done in deep brown tones, stands to the right side of the picture. In the bowl are five blooms and several sprays of greenery. Several other blossoms, a sprig of greenery and a long stem lie scattered around the bowl. Peeking from behind the bowl are a pile of darker green leaves and a cluster of bright red berries. Hanging on the left hand background wall is a textile with a yellow, red, and white plaid pattern.

Credit Line

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

ca. 1885-87

Object number

2014.42.1

Restrictions & Rights

Public Domain

Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

Type

oil paintings

Medium

oil paint on linen (material)

Dimensions

H x W x D (Framed Painting): 16 × 22 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (40.6 × 56.5 × 6.4 cm)

H x W x D (Unframed Painting): 10 × 16 × 1/2 in. (25.4 × 40.6 × 1.3 cm)

H x W x D (Crate): 24 1/2 × 31 1/2 × 10 in. (62.2 × 80 × 25.4 cm)

Place made

New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America

See more items in

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification

Visual Arts

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Topic

African American

Art

Men

Record ID

nmaahc_2014.42.1

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd58bef3c1e-e791-4f71-bf4d-f1fa44619fb1