An Abundance of Fruit
James Peale, American, 1749 - 1831
about 1820-1825
Oil on panel
Overall: 19 1/4 × 26 in. (48.9 × 66 cm)
Frame: 28 1/4 × 35 1/4 in. (71.8 × 89.5 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the bequest of Dr. Frank P. Stetz, given in loving memory of David Stewart Hull, Class of 1960; the Miriam H. and S. Sidney Stoneman Acquisition Fund; the Katharine T. and Merrill G. Beede 1929 Fund; the Florence and Lansing Porter Moore 1937 Fund; and the Mrs. Harvey P. Hood W'18 Fund
2010.61
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
19th century
Object Name
Painting
Research Area
Painting
On view
Inscriptions
Inscribed, on reverse, in red crayon: Dining Room / Rembrandt Peale [sic]; in graphite: Varnish / Mrs. [illeg.]
Label
A variety of perfectly ripe summer and fall fruits are carefully mounded near the center of a plain wooden table in this harmonious Neoclassical composition. Though humble in appearance, the jewel-like tones of this bounty proclaim the inherent natural abundance of North America. The only object not domestically produced—a Chinese-export porcelain basket—echoes the importance of both local and international trade networks in early America. A still-life painting such as this would have likely adorned an elegant upper-class dining room. From the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
An otherwise unremarkable wooden table becomes a nexus of trade networks. Locally grown fruits signify the abundance of North American soil, and they are arranged in and around a white porcelain basket exported from China to the United States. This combination of locally and internationally sourced goods might remind you of your own dining table. When looking at this historic painting, we might ask who picked these fruits—the artist, a hired laborer, or an enslaved person? With the increased international sourcing of today’s food supply, these questions remain relevant. Who grows our food? What chemicals are used? Where does the water come from?
From the 2023 exhibition Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, curated by Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
Course History
SART 25, Painting I, Esme Thompson, Fall 2014
ANTH 7.05, Animals and Humans, Laura Ogden, Winter 2022
GEOG 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
SPAN 65.15, Wonderstruck: Archives and the Production of Knowledge in an Unequal World, Silvia Spitta and Barbara Goebel, Summer 2022
Art History 38.04, Food and Art: Global History, Nicola Camerlenghi, Spring 2023
First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023
Exhibition History
American Art, Colonial to Modern, Israel Sack Gallery and Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26, 2019-September 12, 2021.
Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, December 7, 2010-July 12, 2015.
Liquidity: Art, Commodities, and Water, Israel Sack Gallery and the Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 29, 2023-June 16, 2024.
This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 5–July 22, 2022
Westmoreland Museum of Art, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Penn's Promise: Still Life Painting in Pennsylvania, 1795-1930. May 29, 1988-July 31, 1988, no. 76.
Publication History
Chew, Paul A. and Russell E. Burke III. Penn's Promise: Still Life Painting in Pennsylvania, 1795-1930 (Greensburg, Penn.: Westmoreland Museum of Art), 1988, cat. no. 76, color).
John R. Stomberg, The Hood Now: Art and Inquiry at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2019, p. 110, ill. plate no. 41.
Provenance
Henry R. Shoch, Pennsylvania; to Bessie Shoch-Neel (his daughter), Merion Pennsylvania; R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois; Sotheby's, New York, New York American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, November 30, 1989, lot 4; Private Collection; with Michael Altman Fine Art and Advisory Services by 2008; sold to present collection, 2010.
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