Upset
Upset
Artist
Joseph Decker
(1853 - 1924)
Date1884 or 1885
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions12 x 22 in. (30.5 x 55.9 cm)
Framed: 21 in. × 30 in. × 1 1/2 in.
Framed: 21 in. × 30 in. × 1 1/2 in.
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2006.52
Signed
Accession number
2006.52
On View
On viewLabel TextEvery one of these peaches has a flaw, and one is even split open. They lie on the ground, not on a clean table. These “ugly” details made the work controversial in its day. Even though we think of beauty in still-life as perfect arrangements of idealized fruit and flowers, Joseph Decker saw beauty in how things actually are. He was influenced by the well-known English writer John Ruskin who said, “Art is not a study of positive reality, it is the seeking for ideal truth.”
Cada uno de estos melocotones tiene una imperfección, e incluso uno de ellos está completamente abierto. Están en el suelo, no sobre una mesa limpia. Estos detalles “feos” hicieron que el trabajo fuese controversial en su época. A pesar de que pensamos en la belleza de un bodegón como un arreglo perfecto de frutas y flores, Joseph Decker vio la belleza en las cosas como son en realidad. Decker se inspiró en las palabras del reconocido autor inglés John Ruskin, quien dijo “El arte no es el estudio de una realidad positiva, sino la búsqueda de la verdad ideal.”
Inscribedverso, on stretcher, in black crayon: 13 53 - 3
Markingsverso, on card glued to canvas, in ink: [torn] Upset / Artist J. Deck [torn] / Price [torn] / Will call f [torn]
verso, label on stretcher: No. 52271 / Picture
