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Still Life with Three Castles Tobacco

William Michael Harnett

American Art

As the still-life genre became increasingly popular with collectors in the late nineteenth century, artists turned toward what was considered a more masculine subject matter, featuring the trophies of hunting or, as in this composition, pipes, jugs, books, and newspapers. William Michael Harnett’s works were favored by New York businessmen, who enjoyed them for their clever illusionistic style (seen in the way the newspaper juts forward) and their references to masculine pastimes.
MEDIUM Oil on canvas
  • Place Made: United States
  • DATES 1880
    DIMENSIONS 10 3/4 x 15 in. (27.3 x 38.1 cm) frame: 17 x 21 x 2 3/4 in. (43.2 x 53.3 x 7 cm)  (show scale)
    SIGNATURE Signed lower left (initials in monogram): "W M HARNETT / 1880"
    COLLECTIONS American Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 41.221
    CREDIT LINE Dick S. Ramsay Fund
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION William Michael Harnett (American, 1848-1892). Still Life with Three Castles Tobacco, 1880. Oil on canvas, 10 3/4 x 15 in. (27.3 x 38.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 41.221 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 41.221_SL3.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 41.221_SL3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2023
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