Still Life: Balsam Apple and Vegetables

James Peale

ca. 1820s · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

This painting dates from a peak period of James Peale's career. While he typically used somber colors and linear forms, his use of vivid colors and painterly execution in this work suggest that it is a somewhat experimental exercise. With its focus on lavish vegetable forms, this work resembles still lifes of the Spanish school. The vegetables are, from left to right, okra, blue-green cabbage, crinkly Savoy cabbage, Hubbard squash, eggplant, balsam apple, tomatoes, and purple-red cabbage.

Artist

James Peale

Date

ca. 1820s

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Maria DeWitt Jesup Fund, 1939