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William Michael Harnett (b.1848, Clonakilty, Ireland; d.1892, New York, NY) Still Life With Violin, 1886 Oil on canvas Grace Judd Landers Fund 1942.11

William Michael Harnett (b.Ireland, 1848-1892)
Still Life with Violin, 1886

William Michael Harnett's Still Life with Violin is a strikingly lifelike depiction of an accumulation of objects on a library or study table. An old violin rests on a copy of the Philadelphia Times dated October 20, 1886. Nearby are a meerschaum pipe and a few used matches, a stoneware pitcher, a roll of sheet music, a tilted candlestick, and several books.

Following the rich tradition of European still-life painting, Harnett's display appealed to nineteenth-century middle class patrons—often merchants and businessmen—who loved to amass collections of bric-a-brac, books, instruments, paintings, and other objects. The painting, and the objects displayed in it, are meant to reflect the wealth and taste of its owner.

The vellum-bound books of Dante's Purgatorio (1503) and poems by Robert Burns can be identified with the theme of courtly love, chivalry, and a romantic nostalgia for the Middle Ages. For Harnett, old instruments such as the violin possessed the "mellowing effect of age" and suggested many rich associations with the past.

In contrast to the many traditional objects in the display, the newspaper comments directly on contemporary culture. In fact, many of Harnett's patrons had specific connections with the newspaper business as publishers, editors, and writers. Peter Samuel Dooner, the first owner of Still Life with Violin, had worked as a pressman at the Philadelphia Times for a number of years before opening his own hotel and saloon in Philadelphia in 1876.

The son of an Irish shoemaker, Harnett was trained as an engraver. After taking art classes in Philadelphia and New York, he took up oil painting around 1875. From 1880 to 1886 he studied and exhibited in Europe, mainly in Munich. Although his European study did not radically change his painting style or technique, it left an unmistakable influence upon his subject matter. Most obvious was the appearance of European newspapers—the London Times, Le Figaro, and others—and the subject of hunting still lifes. During his German sojourn Harnett began assembling the large collection of curios that he would use as props for the remainder of his career.

After his return to the United States in 1886, Harnett quickly became one of the most successful still life artists of his time. Besides table top still lifes, such as Still Life with Violin, he was known for his extremely detailed trompe-l'oeil representations of hunting paraphernalia hanging on wooden doors and for his images of legal tender, which were so realistic he was brought up on charges of counterfeiting.

For Further Reading:

Alfred Frankenstein, After the Hunt: William Harnett and Other American Still Life Painters, rev. ed. (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 1969)
Doreen Bolger, Marc Simpson, and John Wilmerding, eds., William M. Harnett (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992)

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This essay has been condensed from a larger manuscript written by Margaret Stenz for the museum's collection catalogue.