Artist:
John F. Francis
(American, 1808 - 1886)
Basket of Cherries
Medium: Oil on panel
Date: 1863
Dimensions:
14 3/4 × 19 in. (37.5 × 48.3 cm)
Accession number: 95.5
Label Copy:
The Philadelphia artist John F. Francis helped to revive the vogue for still life painting in the mid-nineteenth century. He first achieved recognition for his portrait work, which included full-length portraits of George Washington and William Penn for the Pennsylvania State House in 1837.
By 1850, he had switched, almost exclusively, to his "fruit paintings," many of which included elegant accessories and glasses of wine. Basket of Cherries is a more rustic still life that shows what appear to be freshly picked cherries spilling from a simple country basket onto a table with crisp white linens. The sweet fruit, harvested in early summer in Pennsylvania, ranges in color from a blushing yellow to a deep wine red.
The Philadelphia artist John F. Francis helped to revive the vogue for still life painting in the mid-nineteenth century. He first achieved recognition for his portrait work, which included full-length portraits of George Washington and William Penn for the Pennsylvania State House in 1837.
By 1850, he had switched, almost exclusively, to his "fruit paintings," many of which included elegant accessories and glasses of wine. Basket of Cherries is a more rustic still life that shows what appear to be freshly picked cherries spilling from a simple country basket onto a table with crisp white linens. The sweet fruit, harvested in early summer in Pennsylvania, ranges in color from a blushing yellow to a deep wine red.
Curatorial RemarksSIGNATURE; INSCRIBED DATE; INSCRIPTIONS/MARKS