New York Daily News

William Michael Harnett

1888 · Oil on wood · The American Wing

Working on a very small scale, Harnett depicted with rich color and convincing impasto a ceramic beer mug; the New York Daily News for April 3, 1888; a meerschaum pipe; two biscuits; and a variety of crumbs, matches, ashes, and tobacco flakes. In a published interview, he described his early dependence on objects of this sort: “I could not afford to hire models as the other students did, and I was forced to paint my first picture from still life models.” The catalogue of Harnett’s estate sale, which included an extensive collection of pipes, attests to his lifelong interest in such typically masculine possessions.

Artist

William Michael Harnett

Date

1888

Medium

Oil on wood

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of William L. and Charlotte B. McKim, 1973