Melons and Morning Glories by Raphaelle Peale was created in 1813. The painting is in Smithsonian American Art Museum Washington DC. The size of the work is 52,7 x 65,4 cm and is made of oil on canvas.
Raphaelle Peale’s father, Charles Willson Peale, urged his son to paint portraits instead of still lifes, which brought an artist less prestige and fewer commissions. But still lifes suited Raphaelle, who also worked as a taxidermist. He painted this melon as if it were a body opened up for examination, detailing its fluids and flesh so that the painting suggests life, fertility, and death, all at once. Read more in Smithsonian American Art Museum.
About the Artist: American painter Raphaelle Peale was born in Annapolis, Maryland. Raphaelle was trained by his father as an artist. Early in his career, the pair collaborated on portraits. In 1793, he made a trip to South America in order to collect specimens for the Peale Museum founded by his father. He exhibited five portraits and eight other paintings, probably still lifes, at the Columbianum, Philadelphia in 1794. His first professional exhibition was in 1795 at the age of 21. In 1797, with his brother Rembrandt… Read more
Order a reproduction of this work (printed on canvas)
