Strawberries and Upright Box

Details

Joseph Decker (1853-1924)
Strawberries and Upright Box
signed 'J. Decker' (lower left)--inscribed indistinctly 'J.D. * *illing St. BrY N.Y.' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
9 x 14 in. (22.9 x 35.6 cm.)
Painted circa 1890.

Provenance

Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1987.

Literature

Coe Kerr Gallery, Joseph Decker (1853-1924): Still Lifes, Landscapes and Images of Youth, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1988, n.p., pl. X, illustrated.
J. Hardin and V.A. Leeds, In the American Spirit: Realism and Impressionism from the Lawrence Collection, exhibition catalogue, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1999, pp. 64, 84, no. 8, illustrated (as Strawberries in Upright Box).

Exhibited

New York, Coe Kerr Gallery, Inc., Joseph Decker (1853-1924): Still Lifes, Landscapes and Images of Youth, May 17-June 11, 1988.
St. Petersburg, Florida, Museum of Fine Arts, In The American Spirit: Realism and Impressionism from the Lawrence Collection, March 21-June 13, 1999, no. 8 (as Strawberries in Upright Box).

Special Notice

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Lot Essay

Joseph Decker, whose work ranks among the finest American still-lifes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, captured the simplest objects with sincerity and profoundness.

According to William H. Gerdts, "[A] characteristic in Decker's late still lifes is his preference for small and humble subjects. While a few of these late pictures continue his investigation of the peach, and even melons occasionally appear, for the most part the fruit he chose to display are small: grapes, cherries, plums, gooseberries and especially strawberries, which he investigated numerous times, obviously enjoying the pulpy forms as well as the bright, ripe red color." (Coe Kerr Gallery, Joseph Decker (1853-1924): Still Lifes, Landscapes and Images of Youth, New York, 1988, n.p.)

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