Fruit Piece
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
50.8 × 60.6 cm (20 × 23 7/8 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
156596
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This pristinely arranged still life by Hannah Brown Skeele features US-grown produce as well as imported specialties such as bananas, oranges, a pineapple, and sugar cubes. The composition was likely to appeal to middle- and upper-class consumers in the mid-19th century, who increasingly purchased still-life paintings to adorn their homes. Born in Maine and active in Missouri, Skeele exhibited Fruit Piece the year it was painted, then already in the collection of a Saint Louis businessman. The ...