DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.56224#0046
rigidity, I suggest that it be dated before 1854 (fig. 54).
An ‘epergne’ with assorted fruits (grapes, raisins, al-
monds, and oranges) forms the center of a formal com-
position in which the elements are wine bottles, with
red and white wine glasses, a pitcher of the same type
as those in the other two paintings, a plate with a large
slice of cheese, oyster crackers, and a silver knife. The
ornaments of the pitcher are blue, tinted with gold.
A white tablecloth is contrasted with a plain dark back-
ground. Evidently the picture was intended to decorate
a dining room, but by the keenness of his observation
the painter made the conventional subject matter an
exquisite visual experience. The champagne glasses,
which alternate with small chalices, form a rhythmic
pattern around the basso continuo of the majestic
bowl of fruits. The dark bottles and the bright jar are
a minor and a major chord, and only an asymmetrical
water glass to the right suggests somewhat roguishly
that the whole thing is not quite as solemn as it seems.
The glass is, so to speak, a coda, an affix to the score.
Another still life, with a white pitcher, three water
glasses, oyster crackers, chestnuts, and apples, the
slightly more relaxed style of which suggests the early
fifties as its date, supplements the stiff orchestra piece
with a bit of lighter vocal music (fig. 55). No dignified
bowl of fruits prevents the glasses from establishing
themselves as an improvised chime, and everything
else cheerfully contributes its own voice to an extem-
poraneous bit of community singing. The still life in
the Karolik Collection that is signed and dated 1859
may serve as a striking example of Francis' style in the
years before the Civil War. On a table laid with a
white cloth is an overturned basket with apples and
chestnuts. A piece of cloth is folded backwards cover-
ing the basket, and apples and chestnuts are spread
over the table. A plate with a sliced apple and a knife,
an earthenware jar, and two glasses filled with wine are
distributed over the rest of the table. The left side of
the background is almost black, the right side some-
what brighter. The light comes from the right and
brings out the form of every object with great clarity.
Whereas the table in all but a few of Raphaelle
Peale’s still lifes was placed parallel to the border of
the picture, here it is seen from the side so that its
borders form oblique angles with the frame. The last
vestiges of regularity have vanished from the composi-
tion. The ‘stable equilibrium’ prevailing hitherto has
definitely given way to an ‘unstable equilibrium’ in
which a complex relationship is established between
the single elements. The painter achieves the pre-
carious balance of his composition by constructing a
design of the patterns formed by shadows in contrast
to the lighted areas. A highly unconventional use of
[24]
pure color complements the bold innovations of the
composition. Francis' colors are neither the local colors
of the Peales nor the tonal values of an Ord. They
rather reflect a study of relative values suggested by
the combination of objects of different color and tex-
ture. As a result, novel shades of pink, blue, green, and
yellow determine the effect of Francis' mature paint-
ings. Evidently the interest in texture is subordinated
to the study of volumes and colors under a given light
—a principlẽ that in the sphere of the great art of the
world was suggested by the landscapes of Corot's Italian
period and was not carried through to its last conse-
quences until later on in Cézanne’s work. Some anon-
ymous Mexican still lifes in Roberto Montenegro’s
collection dating from about 1840 display similar tend-
encies on a more primitive level.
The post-Civil War period of Francis is character-
ized by a softening of his approach, by an increased
freedom of his handwriting and—probably rather late
in his life—by a turn from pure artistic research to-
ward a more conventional decorative style. A little still
life with cheese and crackers in the Museum of His-
toric Art in Princeton initialed and dated 1866 (fig. 57)
shows Francis' new style in the making: the forms are
softer, the brushwork is more impulsive and the com-
position is tighter.
An overturned basket forms the main motif of a still
life with cherries (fig. 58), in which the glassy skin of
the fruits is more emphasized than their spherical
shape. It was painted in the same year as the Princeton
picture. Now emphasis is laid on atmosphere, and the
painter seems to have lost some of his interest in vol-
umes. Also that year Francis painted a still life with
oranges, raisins, and nuts, in which texture is studied
as well as relief (fig. 59). Chiaroscuro unifies the paint-
ing, and the colors are correspondingly more subtly
blended.
Yet another still life by Francis comes closer to the
lavish taste of the post-Civil War period (fig. 60). It
shows a fruit basket in the midst of sliced watermelons
on a table set up in an Italianate porch with an eve-
ning landscape as background. Its composition is more
involved and less lucid than in Francis' other paintings,
but color and technique are lively. It is reasonable to
assume that the still life with evening landscape is a
late work of the painter, probably one produced around
1870. It has a charm of its own, though aesthetically
it shows the influence of what we used to call the Vic-
torian period. This term really is equivalent to ‘post-
romanticism, since it is not restricted to England, but
designates a stage of development in which the tenets
of the romanticists became common property. This
development, like many similar ones, included an ele-
An ‘epergne’ with assorted fruits (grapes, raisins, al-
monds, and oranges) forms the center of a formal com-
position in which the elements are wine bottles, with
red and white wine glasses, a pitcher of the same type
as those in the other two paintings, a plate with a large
slice of cheese, oyster crackers, and a silver knife. The
ornaments of the pitcher are blue, tinted with gold.
A white tablecloth is contrasted with a plain dark back-
ground. Evidently the picture was intended to decorate
a dining room, but by the keenness of his observation
the painter made the conventional subject matter an
exquisite visual experience. The champagne glasses,
which alternate with small chalices, form a rhythmic
pattern around the basso continuo of the majestic
bowl of fruits. The dark bottles and the bright jar are
a minor and a major chord, and only an asymmetrical
water glass to the right suggests somewhat roguishly
that the whole thing is not quite as solemn as it seems.
The glass is, so to speak, a coda, an affix to the score.
Another still life, with a white pitcher, three water
glasses, oyster crackers, chestnuts, and apples, the
slightly more relaxed style of which suggests the early
fifties as its date, supplements the stiff orchestra piece
with a bit of lighter vocal music (fig. 55). No dignified
bowl of fruits prevents the glasses from establishing
themselves as an improvised chime, and everything
else cheerfully contributes its own voice to an extem-
poraneous bit of community singing. The still life in
the Karolik Collection that is signed and dated 1859
may serve as a striking example of Francis' style in the
years before the Civil War. On a table laid with a
white cloth is an overturned basket with apples and
chestnuts. A piece of cloth is folded backwards cover-
ing the basket, and apples and chestnuts are spread
over the table. A plate with a sliced apple and a knife,
an earthenware jar, and two glasses filled with wine are
distributed over the rest of the table. The left side of
the background is almost black, the right side some-
what brighter. The light comes from the right and
brings out the form of every object with great clarity.
Whereas the table in all but a few of Raphaelle
Peale’s still lifes was placed parallel to the border of
the picture, here it is seen from the side so that its
borders form oblique angles with the frame. The last
vestiges of regularity have vanished from the composi-
tion. The ‘stable equilibrium’ prevailing hitherto has
definitely given way to an ‘unstable equilibrium’ in
which a complex relationship is established between
the single elements. The painter achieves the pre-
carious balance of his composition by constructing a
design of the patterns formed by shadows in contrast
to the lighted areas. A highly unconventional use of
[24]
pure color complements the bold innovations of the
composition. Francis' colors are neither the local colors
of the Peales nor the tonal values of an Ord. They
rather reflect a study of relative values suggested by
the combination of objects of different color and tex-
ture. As a result, novel shades of pink, blue, green, and
yellow determine the effect of Francis' mature paint-
ings. Evidently the interest in texture is subordinated
to the study of volumes and colors under a given light
—a principlẽ that in the sphere of the great art of the
world was suggested by the landscapes of Corot's Italian
period and was not carried through to its last conse-
quences until later on in Cézanne’s work. Some anon-
ymous Mexican still lifes in Roberto Montenegro’s
collection dating from about 1840 display similar tend-
encies on a more primitive level.
The post-Civil War period of Francis is character-
ized by a softening of his approach, by an increased
freedom of his handwriting and—probably rather late
in his life—by a turn from pure artistic research to-
ward a more conventional decorative style. A little still
life with cheese and crackers in the Museum of His-
toric Art in Princeton initialed and dated 1866 (fig. 57)
shows Francis' new style in the making: the forms are
softer, the brushwork is more impulsive and the com-
position is tighter.
An overturned basket forms the main motif of a still
life with cherries (fig. 58), in which the glassy skin of
the fruits is more emphasized than their spherical
shape. It was painted in the same year as the Princeton
picture. Now emphasis is laid on atmosphere, and the
painter seems to have lost some of his interest in vol-
umes. Also that year Francis painted a still life with
oranges, raisins, and nuts, in which texture is studied
as well as relief (fig. 59). Chiaroscuro unifies the paint-
ing, and the colors are correspondingly more subtly
blended.
Yet another still life by Francis comes closer to the
lavish taste of the post-Civil War period (fig. 60). It
shows a fruit basket in the midst of sliced watermelons
on a table set up in an Italianate porch with an eve-
ning landscape as background. Its composition is more
involved and less lucid than in Francis' other paintings,
but color and technique are lively. It is reasonable to
assume that the still life with evening landscape is a
late work of the painter, probably one produced around
1870. It has a charm of its own, though aesthetically
it shows the influence of what we used to call the Vic-
torian period. This term really is equivalent to ‘post-
romanticism, since it is not restricted to England, but
designates a stage of development in which the tenets
of the romanticists became common property. This
development, like many similar ones, included an ele-