american still life show at pma

The Excellent Wife (TEW)  has a birthday coming, and, in celebration, we went to the "Audubon to Warhol: The Art of American Still Life" show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The show was great (check the link for videos).

On walking in, the first painting was this "Deception" of Venus rising from the sea, by Raphaelle Peale:

The "deception" comes from the realistic treatment of the draped linen, and the hiding of the figure behind it. The show had other examples of humor in still life, like the beetles included in flower paintings (a convention since at least seventeenth-century Holland).

There were a couple of other artists with whom I was unfamiliar who caught my eye. There were three by Sheeler, and when I saw the second and third, I knew they were his. He reminds me of one of my favorite artists, Cassandre:

Below, Calla Lilies by George Cochran Lambdin. I don't know if I like this because of the painting, or because of the arresting black background.

Robert Spear Dunning did this one; it's as much of the reflections as it is of the fruit. I loved the virtuosity he displayed.

It was a great show. We've been out to dinner, and we're back, and TEW has her year's subscription to Netflix to set up (it was what she wanted for the gift).