American Realist Still-life Paintings

Brendan H. Johnston (American, b. 1984) Drawing, Sculpture, and Painting 2020 Drawing Signed in monogram and dated, lower left: BHJ 20 Oil on copper panel 16 x 12 inches (40.6 x 30.5 cm) Sculpture Signed in monogram and dated, lower left: BHJ MMXX Oil on marble panel 16 x 20 inches (30.6 x 50.8cm) Painting Signed in monogram and dated, lower left: BHJ 20 Oil on wood panel 16 x 12 inches (40.6 x 30.5 cm) The tradition of trompe l’oeil painting can be traced back to antiquity and its most famous painters—the Greeks Zeuxis and Parrhasius—who painted illusionistic paintings in a contest to settle their rivalry. As Pliny the Elder related in his Naturalis Historia, while Zeuxis painted a still-life of grapes that tempted a bird to try to pluck one from the bunch, Parrhasius painted a curtain so realistic that Zeuxis reached out to pull it aside. Artists and collectors from the Renaissance to today have been captivated by the story of Zeuxis and Parrhasius, as well as by the illusionistic deception of trompe l’oeil paintings. Some of the most visually arresting and memorable paintings in the history of art are works in this genre, from Van Eyck to Magritte. A particular genre of trompe l’oeil in which a variety of objects are fictively hung, suspended, or attached to a flat surface emerged in the seventeenth century. Letter racks, gun racks, doors, cabinets, and windows were the setting for the painted illusion of life-size items that might normally appear in such contexts. While the technical prowess of the artist was well-demonstrated by these realistic visual jokes, a subtle message might well be embedded by the choice and placement of the objects depicted. In the late nineteenth century, the tradition of these trompe l’oeil paintings jumped the Atlantic and achieved new life with artists such as J. F. Peto, William Harnett, and John Haberle...

Signed and dated (at lower right): FRANSIOLI 1959

Michael Hottes (Richmond, Virginia 1852 – 1891 Springfield, Illinois) Provisions from Nature Signed, lower right, M. Hottes, and dated lower left, ’89 Oil on canvas 40 ½ x 72 inches (102.9 x 182.3 cm) Provenance: Butterfield’s, San Francisco, 19 November 1997, lot 4113, as M. Hottes (?) German (?), Nineteenth Century with Beadleston Gallery, New York, 1998; where acquired by: Casey Cowell, Palm Beach, Florida with Peter Nahum at the Leicester Galleries, London Christie’s, New York, 28 November 2007, lot 81, as M. Hottes, A Bountiful Harvest with William Struve Arts, Chicago, 2007 Leslie Hindman Gallery, Chicago, 13 September 2009, lot 45, as M. Hottes, Provisions from Nature Leslie Hindman Gallery, Chicago, 28 September 2014, lot 232, as M. Hottes, Provisions from Nature; where acquired by: Private Collection, New York This impressive still-life is the single surviving painting known by the nineteenth-century American painter Michael Hottes. His brief career—he died at the age of thirty-nine—has never been properly studied and this short biographical sketch, drawn from various documentary sources, can only give a vague indication of his life and career. Hottes was born on 11 March 1852 in Richmond, Virginia. His full name, Michael Darmstadt Hottes, acknowledges the German ancestry of his parents Peter and Christina, both born in Darmstadt and immigrants to the United States. Michael’s education began at a college in Virginia and continued at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was said to have been the first cadet to be sent from Virginia after the Civil War. He then studied at the Royal Academy in Munich, together with William Merritt Chase, before returning to the United States around 1880 (Fig. 1). While in Munich he authored an article, “A Richmond Artist in Munich” for his hometown newspaper, the Daily Dispatch, in 1878. Hottes lived briefly in Richmond before moving to Chicago, where he was to reside for several years. He later moved to Rochester, New York, where he painted the work for which he achieved his greatest celebrity—a huge depiction of Niagara Falls measuring ten feet high, more than eighteen feet wide, and utilizing 190 square feet of canvas. Completed in 1890, the year before the artist’s death, the painting was recorded and described in 1891 when in the collection of Daniel W. Powers in Rochester, NY, but it has since disappeared. Hottes also worked as an engraver. A folksy illustration of his appeared in Harper’s Weekly on 4 August 1883, and an independent print titled Nebraska was issued in 1877. Other paintings recorded by Hottes include still-lifes. However, nothing cited is comparable in scale to the present painting. The scene is set within a domestic interior, with a plain wall, a rustic wood plank floor, and a table covered with a cloth, rumpled and hanging to the floor at the right. A bamboo fishing rod...

Signed, lower right, H. W. Keppelmann Provenance: George Haller, Avon, Connecticut, until 2015, and his estate until 2019 Trompe l’oeil painting flourished in nineteenth-century Am...

Elegant oil painting of a still life displaying black grapes in a bowl, white vase and partial view of a tapestry. Oil on canvas measures 20 x 24...

Elegant painting of brilliantly-colored dahlias. The canvas measures 24 x 30, housed in a decorative frame which measures 28 3/4 x 34 3/4 x 2 3/4. Artists's signature, lower right. ...

BORN 1951 Asheville, North Carolina EDUCATION 1973 Yale University, New Haven, CT, Bachelor of Arts 1975 Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA and Rome, Italy, Masters of Fine Art SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2015 Stone Roberts: Street Scenes, Still Lifes, and Figures, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT 2014 Stone Roberts, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY 2012 Stone Roberts: New York City Paintings, Museum of the City of New York, New York, NY 2009 Three Recent Paintings, Leigh Morse Fine Art, New York, NY 2009 Recent Paintings and Works on Paper, Leigh Morse Fine Art, New York, NY 2007/08 Home Is Where One Starts: The Paintings and Drawings of Stone Roberts, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC 2006 Stone Roberts, The Room, Stonington, CT 2004 Stone Roberts: Eight Paintings, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, NY 1998 Stone Roberts: Recent Paintings, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, NY 1993 Stone Roberts: Recent Paintings, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, NY 1989 Recent Paintings, Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, NY Centennial Exhibition, Walker Art Center, Woodberry Forest School, Woodberry Forest, VA 1986 Recent Paintings, Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, NY SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2017-18 The American Dream, Drents Museum, Assen, Netherlands 2016-17 Truth & Vision: 21st Century Realism, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE 2016 Behind the Easel: The Unique Voices of 20 Contemporary Representational Painters, Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE 2015 Home is Where the Art Is, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY 2013 Duets: Art in Conversation, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY 2012 Summer Selections, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY 2010 Limners to Facebook: Portraiture from the 19th to the 21st Century, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC 2009 Looking Forward: New Works and New Directions for the Permanent Collection, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC 2008 The Figure: American Realists 1980-2008, The Kalamazoo Museum of Art, Kalamazoo, MI 2007 Flowers, Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, NY Portraits, Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, NY 2006 Living Painters, Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, NY The Figure in American Painting and Drawing 1985-2005. Ogunquit Museum of American Art. Ogunquit, ME. 2005 Lives/Still Lives, Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, NY 2004 Art and Remembrance: Celebrating the Life of Marilyn Schneider Ruthenburg, Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science, Evansville, IN 2000 Art in America: 2000. 2000-2001, Slovic Republic 1999 Self Images, Galerie Simonne Stern, New Orleans, LA Western North Carolina Collects, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC 1998 Still Sixteen, Still Life, Galerie Simonne Stern, New Orleans, LA 1996 Private Worlds: 200 Years of American Still Life Painting, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO 1994 Flowers, Babcock Galleries, New York, NY The Figure, Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, NY 1991 Contemporary Still Life Painting, Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, NY Exquisite Paintings, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL New Horizons in American Realism, The Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI American Narrative Painting and Sculpture: The 1980's (From the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art), Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY 1989 Centennial Exhibition, Walker Art Center, Woodberry Forest School, Woodberry Forest, VA 1988 A New Generation of the 1980's: American Painters and Sculptors, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Works on Paper, Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York 1987 A Just Temper Between Propensities, New Still Life and Landscape Paintings, Bayly Art Museum, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 1986 N.Y.C.: New York, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE 1985 Contemporary American Still Life, One Penn Plaza, New York, NY 1984 Recent American Still Life Painting, Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, NY PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC Sydney and Walda Besthoff Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC Mrs. Robert Carroll Mr. and Mrs. Willam Cecil Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, NY Evansville Museum of Arts and Sciences, Evansville, IN Jerald Dillon Fessenden Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI Ms. Barbara Goldsmith Mrs. Paul Gottlieb Mr. and Mrs. Graham Gund Mr. and Mrs. Arie L. Kopelman Alex S. Jones William Louis-Dreyfus Mr. and Mrs. James C. Marlas J.D. McClatchy and Chip Kidd Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Menschel The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Mrs. Stephen Paine Mr. and Mrs. W.J.W.J. van Roijen Mrs. Julius Rosenwald II Mark Singer Carl Spielvogel and Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa Stephens Inc., Little Rock, Arkansas Woodberry Forest School, Woodberry Forest, VA Wellington Management Company, Boston, MA Mr. and Mrs. Frederick D. Wolfe SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY “Art Off the Easel: Stone Roberts,”, American Art Collector, pp. 36-7, November 2017. Dunne, Susan. “Stone Roberts' People-Watching 'Street Scenes' At NBMAA,” The Hartford Courant (October 13, 2015), illus. “Set in Stone.” Art + Antiques (April 2014), p. 42, illus. “Stone Roberts: Moments of Life.” American Art Collector (March 2014), pp. 106-107, illus. Lin, Christine. “Stone Roberts: An Eye for Light and Detail.” The Epoch Times (November 18, 2012), illus. Nicholson, Louise. “Stone Roberts: A Painter Looks Back and Moves Forward.” Fine Art Connoisseur (March/April 2012), illus. “Stone Roberts: New York City Paintings,” Lost, Found, and Remembered (September 16, 2012). “Celebrate Labor Day with the Museum of the City of New York,” Yahoo!News (August 31, 2012). “Brueghel in New York,” City Arts (August 30, 2012). “Ready to Rage on Labor Day Weekend?,” The New York Observer/Scooter (August 30, 2012). “Museums: On Exhibit Arts, Science & Culture,” IN New York Magazine (August 2012 issue). “NYC Arts Picks: Fine Arts,” The Epoch Times (July 16, 2012). “NYC Weekend,” Bloomberg News (July 14, 2012). Nicholson, Louise. “Stone Roberts: A Painter Looks Back and Looks Forward.” Fine Art Connoisseur (April 2011): pp. 65-71, illus. McGee, Celia. “Culture Watch: Sitting Pretty.” Departures (September 2010): pp. 74 and 78-79, illus. The Seven Bridges Collection: The first Fifteen Years 1993-2008. Greenwich: Seven Bridges Foundation, 2009: p.46. Burlingham, Michael J. “Stone Roberts: Intriguing Narratives.” American Artist (Winter 2009): pp.60-67. Berman, Anne E. “The New Old School.” Traditional Home (September 2007): pp. 126-133. Morrow, Susan. Stone Roberts, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York, NY (exhibition Catalog) (2004). “Art Listings.” The New York Times (October 3, 10, 17, 24, 29, 2004). American Art at the Flint Institute of Arts. New York: Flint Institute of Arts in association with Hudson Hills Press, 2003; pl. 117. Maxwell, Tanya. “Brushes with Life.” The Asheville Citizen-Times (September 8, 2002): pp.B1,5. Wengrow, Arnold. “Stone Roberts.” The Asheville Citizen-Times (February 24, 2002): pp.C1,5. Burlingham, Michael J. “Stone Roberts.” American Artist (February 2002): pp 20-27, 74. Leigh, Catesby. “Part I: The Realists; the New Traditional Styles.” Art & Antiques (Summer 2002): pp 67-69; illus. cover, p 63. Klinkenborg, Verlyn. Stone Roberts: Paintings and Drawings. 2001. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Revised Edition. “Works on Paper 2000.” American Embassy, The Slovic Republic (exhibition catalogue) (2000): illus. p 22. Aston-Wash, Barbara. “Stories on Canvas. Beauty of Stone Roberts’ work is in the details.” Knoxville News-Sentinel (March 7, 1999): pp E1, E3. Riva, Allesandro. “Stone Roberts.” Arte (March 1999): pp. 126-131, color illus. Wall, Donna Dorian. “Still Here After All These Years.” Southern Accents (March-April 1999):p.112-116, illus. Jones, Helena Z. Artist Stone Roberts: A Look at his Work in the Context of his Life, in his own Words.” The Greenville Sun (March 17, 1999): C1-3. Waddington, Chris. “Paint is Real Subject of Still Life Exhibit.” Lagniappe, Times Picayune (July 10, 1999). Stevens, Mark. “Art Transplants.” New York (November 30, 1998): p.127-128. Thomas, Michael M. “Painter Stone...

Large elegant painting, signed by artist, lower right. The canvas measures 30 x 36, housed in a decorative frame which measures 36.5 x 42.5 x 3. Provenance: J.J. Gillespie Company, F...

"There is truth and beauty in what is real, in what has been created, and recreated." Dyana Hesson paints botanical subjects because they possess the inherent qualities of color, or...

"There is truth and beauty in what is real, in what has been created, and recreated." Dyana Hesson paints botanical subjects because they possess the inherent qualities of color, or...

A vibrant cactus blossom. "There is truth and beauty in what is real, in what has been created, and recreated." Dyana Hesson paints botanical subjects because they possess the i...

A vibrant yellow and orange cactus blossom. "There is truth and beauty in what is real, in what has been created, and recreated." Dyana Hesson paints botanical subjects because ...